


Love Knows No Boundaries

by superna_tau_ral91



Series: Love Knows No Boundaries [1]
Category: B.A.P, EXO (Band)
Genre: Bisexual Male Character(s), Blindness, Bullying exists too, Chinese Characters, Deaf Character(s), F/F, F/M, Foreign Characters, Foreign Language, Gen, Korean Characters, M/M, Major Character Injury, Multiple Crossovers, Muteness, Sign Language, Threesome - M/M/M, Trigger Warnings, also it is not always about violence like the bold archive warning tag says..., bullying exists in my second installment of the series btw, especially since some characters will have their surnames changed..., good heavens why am i working with 10+ main characters, holy moly these tags..., i know there's archive warning of graphic violence but that's not happening yet, not really shaking but you get the idea, oh yeah there's also death too but they're minor characters outside of the storyline, or should that have been alternate universe lol.., that countdown is too intense that im shaking just reading the numbers, the main characters may be ooc at times..., there will be oc's too, this is about human life and human interactions albeit in an parallel universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2018-05-17 18:19:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 28
Words: 180,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5880955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superna_tau_ral91/pseuds/superna_tau_ral91
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Certain students live differently to others, whilst their lives deal with the ups and downs like roller coasters, just as much as everyone does. They find relationships and companions at times; they find negativity and hardships at times. Life does not always have a happy ending, but these students can try to get their own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: The Four Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four individuals, four confessions.

**_Cars are rushing by the café window, motors humming in frantic pace…_ **

**_Chatter and the cheering from people fill his ears, but no sound is clearer to him than the person sitting opposite him, telling him of a surprise…_ **

“Zhongda…here you go…the second part of the surprise.”

**_Rustle…rustle…_ **

**_Such orderliness and cleanliness of his writings…yet all over the place...._ **

**_**His hands are calmly** brushing on the paper, searching for a place to start, before he detects an uneven pattern._ **

**_He makes them out to be bumps upon the crisp, clean paper._ **

**_Rustle…rustle…_ **

He gazes into space, and tears form once again in his misty eyes as he understands the words of lovers expressed time and time again:

 _“_ _사랑해_ _~”_

_“I love you."_

* * *

  ** _Everything is in motion…_**

**_The birds are flying overhead, the trees are swaying, people are walking around…_ **

**_Some people catch what is going on, and mouth noiselessly to others as they look on with mixed reactions of endearment and disgust…_ **

**_Silence…_ **

**_Timid hands making gestures, a shy smile does not go unnoticed…_ **

**_Eyes, though small, speak for themselves, such determination to succeed without help…_ **

**_Vivid colors that appeals to his eyes…_ **

**_Silence…_ **

**_He takes everything in his sight…smiling with joy at what he sees in front of him…_ **

* * *

  ** _A cool breeze is blowing on his face…_**

_**Grass is whistling in the wind…** _

_**Arms surrounding his body, he feels safe and comforted, sitting between the legs of his friend…** _

**_Gulp…sigh…_ **

“Zitao, look at me.”

_He turns his head, resting on the other’s shoulder...looking at the other with a solemn look…_

**_Hands intertwining and he sees that there is something in the other person’s eyes…_ **

_Love…Contentment…Understanding…Acceptance…Defiance…_

**_Inhale…exhale…_ **

_A small smile slowly appears on the other person’s face…_

“I feel exactly the same way you do”

**_A slight squeeze in their connected hands and the other raises their hands to brush his lips against his declared love’s knuckles._ **

**_A shocked expression turns into happiness…disbelief turns into relief…_ **

* * *

  _It is just the three of them…right here in this room..._

**_The vibration of a heartbeat in his chest…_ **

**_Lub-dub…lub-dub…_ **

**_Two mysterious hands reaching for him…_ **

**_A gentle and assertive touch…_ **

**_A young and innocent touch…_ **

**_Lub-dub…lub-dub…_ **

**_Such a sensation to feel this way, this extreme happiness and exhilaration..._ **

_Surely it must happen in fairy tales…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a background installment of the series behind the four characters, simply titled "The Four Individuals and How It All Began." (aka Part 2)
> 
> As poetic as this may seem, the storyline won't be so poetic. it's almost like cold, hard facts, mixed with soft sugary fluffs, and ridiculous cheese...and straight up served on a platter. :)
> 
> Go to the Part 2 first to get some background on the main characters before getting to the story. You'll understand better. ^^;


	2. Jongdae

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One day of Jongdae's college life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder: The bold italic words are the sensory attentions of each individuals.

**The apartment's floor plan (designed by me because I can)**

** **

* * *

 

**_Mmnnggh…mmmnngghh…mmmnnnggghhh_ **

A bed is vibrating with a series of intermittent hums from his alarm clock. He groans as he wakes up and stretches in his bed. Bones are cracking and muscles are stretching to ease off the stiffness from his restless sleep last night.

Jongdae wakes up to the darkness, and he feels the heat from the sun’s rays through the curtains. His hands scramble for a button on the alarm clock nearby that tells him the time.

**_A female monotonous voice informs him, “8:15AM…”_ **

He sits up with a start. _Oh dangit. It’s 8:15…Class is in 45 minutes!!_

_…Ah yeah…and today’s the test…_

Jongdae grabs for a stationary handle on the side of his bed as he drags his legs over, and rises up to start the day. He turns his head to the door opening, hears the hurried footsteps drawing near him, and feels the vibrations on the floor with his feet.

“Yaaah,” Minseok calls to him, and a hand is threading through his hair. “Chen-ah, are you fully awake? It’s already 8:15 in the morning. You have a test today, don’t you? Come on, why aren’t you getting ready? Up up you get.” With that, he pats his youngest brother’s butt with care and leads his groaning brother to the bathroom. “You-know-who’s about to come by our apartment, so take a quick shower now…”

“Yes, hyung.”

Jongdae, voice laced heavily with sleep, nods and goes into the bathroom to take a shower. He takes off his clothes and discards them neatly on the toilet seat. He reaches for his toothbrush and walks into the tub-less shower and draws the shower curtain close.

**_Whhsssshhhh…_ **

Jongdae gasps and jumps in shock of the instant cold water spraying down on his back. He quickly adjust the dials to find the right temperature.

**_Tsk tisk splatter splish…_ **

Suddenly the water starts to feel warm, and Jongdae’s muscles relax under the soothing sensation. He gives a long sigh, bowing his head in contentment and just stands there under the shower spray.

The drowsiness of the warmth and his sleepiness leaves him standing for who knows how long.

**_“CHEN!” Knock knock knock…_ **

The sound startles him awake, and he lets his older brother’s earlier comment sink in his head.

 _Right…I shouldn’t be taking too long, Yixing-ge will be here soon._ Jongdae thinks to himself as he brushes his teeth quickly. He starts reminiscing about the days he shared with his friend.

He met Yixing back in high school, and to this day, Yixing remains true to being his loyal friend. Jongdae has always wondered what gave this guy such confidence to talk to him, because not many would do it, thinking that he was uninteresting.

Realizing how zoned out he was, he spits out the goop of toothpaste before using the shower spray to rinse his mouth. He places the toothbrush in a high safe place and reaches for the shampoo and soap shower dispensers to quickly soap and wash his body. Turning it off, he gets his toothbrush, hurries out of the shower, grabs his towel, and dries himself off before wrapping his towel around his waist. He did not need to worry about his hair since it was short and needing not much of attention. He places his toothbrush on a toothbrush stand on the sink counter, and leaves the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Minseok is cooking up breakfast and Yifan is sitting down at his chair in the dining room, reading his newspaper about the economy. Their apartment is really spacious with 3 bedrooms, one bedroom having a bunk bed, and two single bedrooms for their youngest sister. Sunyoung has left for her college already, having joined up with Amber, Soojung, and Jinri half an hour ago. There are two bathrooms, one with a tub and the other without a tub.

The apartment has an easy flow as the dining, kitchen, and living spaces are combined into one big room, taking up half of the apartment’s square area footage. These siblings have lived well off from their parents, having left them in the countryside to pursue education. The older brothers are doing well with their degrees and jobs; they were able to fend off living in the city, and help their younger siblings attend schools. Minseok is a professional chef-in-training enrolled at a prestigious culinary arts institute, while Yifan is a student with a major of International Business Management. He has a knack for English, as he favored English professors for his major classes.

Outside of home, they address each other with Korean kinship titles but inside their homes, whether in the brothers’ apartment or parents’ country home, they are free to alternately use Chinese and Korean kinship titles.

As Jongdae leaves his room all dressed up in his college attire, he inhales the aroma of food cooking in the kitchen.

 _Mmmm… Hyung must be cooking up my favorite omelet for breakfast,_ Jongdae feels his lips curling up in a smile before they stop and droop down.

_…Ugh, no time for breakfast, I’ll eat at school…_

Shaking his head halfheartedly, he walks with his hand stretched out to brush against the wall, going down the familiar path to the kitchen/dining/living space.

**_Step…step…rustle…_ **

“Good morning, Chenchen,” Yifan calls out to him with that special nickname, as he spots him walking in the hallway. Minseok whirls around to glare at Yifan, as he was about to flip the omelet, because he hated hearing that nickname. It is not on a daily basis that the nickname gets used; just every once in a while. He flips the omelet with a flick of his wrist.

“Ah, morning, Fan-ge,” says Jongdae cheerily, turning his head to the source of the speaker. He jokes as he comes to a stop near the counter, “I didn’t think I’d see you there.” Yifan snorts at the irony while he folds his newspaper.

“Had a good sleep last night, Chenchen?”

“ _Would you stop, Yifan?_ ”

The second oldest brother smirks at him and sticks out his tongue. Jongdae smiles upon at his oldest brother’s complaint.

“I like it when you do, Fan-ge. You don’t have to like it, Min-ge,” he snickers.

“Yeah yeah yeah…” Minseok shrugs it off, though he is smiling a little at his youngest brother’s snark. Opening a cupboard, he reaches for the plastic containers that Jongdae uses for his school meals.

Meanwhile Jongdae moves toward the table, and as he nears the table, he detects a slight musky scent of Kris, the cologne that his older brother uses.

Yifan takes ahold of his brother’s hand, drawing Jongdae closer to sit on his lap. “So are you ready for your test today? Had a good sleep,” — he glances at their oldest brother quickly, who is just about done with putting rice in one of the containers — “Chenchen?”

At the sound of the nickname, Minseok has to resist slamming the rice cooker shut. With a slight huff and a soft mumble along the lines of “third warning, brother”, he closes it gently and places some vegetables, bibimbap, and his brother’s favorite omelet in their small plastic containers.

Jongdae giggles upon hearing his oldest brother’s distaste for the nickname. He knows that it is childish, but he secretly likes it when his older brother calls him like that. As he is about to reply, there is a knock behind him.

**_Click…shuffle shuffle…_ **

**_A quiet clatter of plastic containers shuffle around in the lunch bag…_ **

“Good morning, Minseok-ge, Yifan-ge…”

**_Click…shuffle shuffle…_ **

“Ah, there’s Zhongda…”

A familiar gentle voice accompanied with a soft chuckle fills the room and Jongdae’s ears, as the blind brother recognizes it to be none other than his friend, Yixing.

“Good morning, Xing-yah” and “Yo! Wassup, Lay-xing?”

“Nothing much, today’s gonna be a busy day.”

“So it will be…” Yifan looks to his seated brother, “Shall I be picking you up today, Jongdae,” Yifan turns to Yixing, “…or will you be walking him home, Lay?”

“I don’t know yet, Yifan-ge. If anything, I can have Zitao accompany him home?”

“Ah, who’s that?”

“Zitao’s my classmate in Math,” Jongdae chirps, at the same time that Minseok mutters, “The wushu and languages guy…”

“Oh, him…I haven’t met him yet, but I know who now. It’s okay; I can pick you up this afternoon. My treat once you’re done with your math exam.” Yifan ruffles his brother’s hair, earning a soft laugh.

“Froyo?”

“You bet.” Jongdae smiles as he feels his brother’s hand threading through his hair and lazily scratching on his head.

Yifan pats Jongdae on the shoulder so they can stand up, and leads him over to Yixing, their oldest brother following behind. On the way, he grabs his brother’s college bag from the sofa and gives it to Jongdae.

“Chen-ah, I’ve packed your meal box for you, and Yixing has it,” Minseok says as he passes the lunch bag to Yixing. “Do well on your exams, you hear? Hyung will treat you to his best dinner creation tonight! Hwaiting!” He gives Jongdae a slight affectionate pinch on his cheek before fixing his brother’s hair.

Yifan grins as he watches his younger brother smile, dimples easily on display. _A college student and yet,_ he thinks to himself, _he’s not even embarrassed with the display of affection._

“Good luck, Jongdae-yah! You’ll do fine.”

“Thank you!” Jongdae replies as he feels around for Yixing’s hooked arm and links his arm with the toned bicep. He feels the frictions of crisp fabric rubbing against each other as they link arms and he could smell a fresh, clean lemon scent from his friend. “Okay, we’ll be going now!”

After the brothers and Yixing have said their goodbyes, the friend leads him safely out the apartment and down the stairs from second floor to the first floor. When they have landed on the ground floor and are finally out the apartment complex, he immediately feels the wind blowing in his face and chuckles at the sudden sensation.

**_Whrr…whhooooshh…whooosshhhhh_ **

“It sure is a windy day today,” Jongdae says as Yixing grins.

“Yeah, it is.”

As they walked against the windy breeze, Yixing notices a slight worried expression on his friend’s face. “What’s with the frown, Zhongda?”

His Chinese accent, though gentle, is still prominent, but Jongdae finds it really endearing, in a friendly way, that he has another nickname to respond to. Growing up with “Jongdae-ah”, “Chenchen”, “Jonggie-oppa”, “Jongdae-hyung”, “Chen-ge”, “Jonggie-yah” and “Zhongda”, he is able to tell who is who just by hearing the nicknames.

Jongdae does not look at him but rather looks up, “I’m a little nervous for my exam. I studied as much as I could last night, but I was too tired to continue.” Jongdae expresses some of his worries that had been keeping him up all night. “I don’t want to fail…”

Yixing, upon hearing his worries, pats Jongdae’s arm with his free hand. He hates seeing his Zhongda not looking happy. “You’ll do fine, Zhongda. You studied what you could. Use what you know and don’t feel bad if you made a mistake. It’s not like this is the only exam you have for the school year. You can get back up and reach the top in the end. Fall seven times, get up eight, yes?” Jongdae gives a little grunt in agreement. “Now, come on, our friends are waiting for us!”

Jongdae wonders what made him so lucky to have a friend like Yixing, someone who does not know what it is like to be in his shoes, yet could offer a sense of peace and comfort for a friend. He feels really blessed that he had been easily accepted as a friend, not for what he has but for who he is. Together, with high spirits and the wind now blowing them to the direction of their destination, they walk in a hurried pace to the entrance gate of their college.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason why Minseok hates the nickname:  
>  _“Okay, it’s disgustingly cute and a little childish to call him that, Fan-di, and I cannot help but cringe every time you say it,” Minseok reasoned, just as he did several times in the past, “He’s in college, geez...”_


	3. Daehyun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day in the college life of the Jung siblings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know where [it](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5949934/chapters/13676773) is. ;)

**Jung House**

** **

~~_(I realized I forgot to put in the door in the laundry area leading to backyard...oops.)_ ~~

* * *

**_Mmmnggrrhh…mmnggggggrrrrrrhhh...mmmmnnnnnngggrrrrrhhh…_ **

As an alarm clock, Jung Daehyun’s cell phone vibrates on his mattress to waken the college student from his sleep. The young man stirs and groans as he stretches out his body under the covers, ready for another day of classes at his neighboring campus. He scrubs his eyes and blinks rapidly to adjust to the gradual brightness of his room.

“Mmm,” Daehyun groans again while ruffling his hair.

**_Mmmnnnrrghh…_ **

Groaning, he scrambles to find the annoying source of vibration.

 ** _Mmmnnrr-_** The alarm is cut off the moment Daehyun finds his cell phone and turns it off. Pulling up the lock screen, he sees that it is 7:30AM, and he looks over to see his younger twin brother, Youngjae, still sleeping.

He chuckles as he concludes that the reason his brother has his eye mask on is that he had been spending late hours playing computer games. His brother may be bright and all, but he has a dangerous addiction for gaming.

Daehyun sighs, shaking the sleepiness out of his head and gets up to wake his brother. Youngjae appears to be out like a light bulb when Daehyun calls out to him.

“Yongshay, you awehk? …Yongshay?”

He shakes him but receives no response, only the movement of his mouth. Youngjae mumbles and Daehyun amusingly rolls his eyes because he is unable to hear or understand “lazy visual human speech”. Giving up on any further attempts to wake his brother up, he gets ready for his 9AM classes. Their college is about a 30-minute walk from the house. He brings his clothes with him as he makes his way to the bathroom in the hallway. 

With divorced parents, the Jung siblings live in a house with their artistically creative mother not too far from the university where the twins are currently attending. Their father is a wealthy business worker, and their mother is an art teacher, her specialties being in painting and ceramics. They chose to live with their mother because her house was closer to their colleges than where their father had planned to live. Sunhwa is majoring in Educational Studies with an interest in Special Education; she wants to be a teacher for the special education students; Daehyun plans to be a journalist whereas Youngjae aspires to be a musician.

Every now and then, their father would check up on them, knowing that the children are doing all right with their mother, but wanting to see how they have been, especially Daehyun.

Upon entering the house, one can see an open, spacious living room with a half wall separating the living room and kitchen, with the dining area in the corner of the living/kitchen area. This way an adult visitor will have a 360-degree view of the living, kitchen, and dining areas with no visual obstructions. There is an L-shaped hallway on the opposite end of the living room that passes by the kitchen. Going down the longer wing of the hallway, further from the kitchen, one will reach the mother’s, the twins’ and Sunhwa’s bedrooms in that order. If one took the shorter wing of the hallway, they would walk past the kitchen on one side and laundry area on the other, with the bathroom in front of them. The backyard is accessed from the laundry area.

He walks past his mother’s bedroom, and judging from the door left ajar, and the bed being made, he knows his mother has already left for some staff meeting at her school. Before he reaches the bathroom, Daehyun catches movement in the corner of his eye. He looks to his right and sees his sister, Sunhwa, pacing around the kitchen with the landline phone in her hand. She seems to be looking a bit exasperated, Daehyun notices from her body language; her hand on her hip as she walks and the seldom eye rolling. _It must be Dad,_ he thinks. He knows he guessed right when he reads his sister’s lips mouthing “Appa” a few times. Sunhwa looks defeated in the end, and hangs up the phone, wearing a forlorn look. She places the landline phone back to its dock and looks up to see Daehyun in the hallway in his pajamas, holding his school clothes with a small smile on his face.

“Oh!” Sunhwa exclaims, and gives him a warm smile. She starts moving her hands and arms with graceful motions. [MORNING, ns[DAEHYUN]; LAST NIGHT SLEEP WELL?]  _(Good morning, Daehyunnie-ah. Did you sleep well last night?)_  She raises her eyebrows in a questioning look.

Daehyun smiles and nods in reply. [FINE, O-K. DAD CALL-YOU?]  _(Yeah, it was okay. Was that Dad on the phone?)_  He raises his eyebrows with curiosity.

Sunhwa responds by giving a huge irritated sigh, and twitching the side of her nose in confirmation. [YEAH, HEAR-HEAR DAD LECTURE-ME+++. *rolls her eyes* “PICK-ON”++++. TEND CUSTOM. WHAT ELSE NEW? *shrugs and shakes her head* NOT NEED WORRY. NOT CONNECT-TO-YOU. DAD LECTURE-ME WHY? JOB HAVE NOW, HE WANT ME SEARCH ANOTHER BETTER REPLACE.] _(Mm-hmm, Dad was giving me a lecture just now. He was nagging so much. Typical Dad, he does not change. There is no need for you to worry; it has nothing to do with you. He gave me a lecture because he wanted me to look for another job to replace what I have now.)_

She puts on an annoyed look and sharply exhales. [“SICK-OF-IT”. I FINISH TELL-HIM EVERYTHING FINE. "KISS-FIST" MY JOB, REAL PASSION, GOOD PAY HAVE. DAD UNDERSTAND WILL-NOT. *sags her shoulders* WHATEVER, DO-DO?] _(I got annoyed and told him that everything is fine as it is now. I love my job, it is my passion and it has good pay. He doesn’t understand how I feel about my job. Oh well, what can you do?)_

Daehyun nods and shrugs with understanding. He looks around the kitchen, as it appears to be that Sunhwa was cooking something. He notices the rice steamer is plugged and cooking, the plate of sausages already cooked, and the French toast heating on the pan with a stack of 5 toasts on a serving plate nearby. There are three plates with utensils already set on the table on the opposite end of the kitchen. He points to the stove, looking concerned. [COOK-COOK, QUESTION?]  _(Aren’t you cooking something up?)_

“Oh right, the French toast, haha,” Sunhwa giggles while palming her forehead as she looks to the stove behind her, and flips the toasts with a spatula. She looks back at Daehyun. [OOPS! THANK REMIND-ME++, ALMOST FORGET. FOR-FOR STAND THERE? GO SHOWER! *laughs* SCHOOL HAVE!]  _(Thanks for reminding me, ahaha, I almost forgot about that. Anyway, why are you standing there? Go take a shower! You have school!)_

Daehyun laughs and is about to head to the shower, but on his way, he informs Sunhwa that Youngjae is still sleeping. [MUMBLE-MUMBLE, I WAKE-HIM TRY-TRY. *shakes head with his eyes glimmering amusement*]  _(He keeps mumbling every time I try waking him up.)_

Sunhwa, almost out of the kitchen as she followed Daehyun to see what he was signing to her, laughs. [LEAVE-HIM, I WAKE-HIM WILL.] _(Let him sleep some more, I will wake him up.)_ Receiving a thumb up from her brother just as he is about to enter the bathroom, she goes back to the kitchen.

Daehyun turns on the light and stares wide-eyed at his dirty blond-haired reflection. He must have tossed and turned a lot last night in his sleep for his hair to look all awry and to stick out at ends. He shrugs and checks for any eye crusts from his sleep before placing his clothes on the sink counter and taking off his pajamas. He grabs his toothbrush and puts toothpaste on it before brushing his teeth. He enters the shower and fiddles with the dials, sighing when he feels the warm water starting to beat down on his body. Once fully brushed, he rinses his mouth with the shower water and spits it out. After applying shampoo to his hair, he lets it stay there as he grabs his bar soap and scrubs himself down.

Meanwhile, Sunhwa has plated the French toasts, placing them on the dining table, and goes to wake up their youngest brother.

“Yah, Youngjae-ah,” she coos as she knocks on her twin brothers’ bedroom door before coming in. “Wake up, it’s already 7:45AM…Your brother’s already up, taking a shower.” 

Youngjae mumbles, “Five more minutes, noona…” Sunhwa declines that offer, “Nope, I made you breakfast! French toast with pork sausages and rice! Your favorite~”

Her brother does not react, so Sunhwa reaches for his eye mask and quietly snickers to herself as she draws back the eye mask.

“YAH. YOUNGJAE-YAH. I MADE YOU YOUR FAVORITE BREAKFAST. OFF THIS BED AND TO THAT CHAIR, OR ELSE,” she taunts at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Youngjae wakes with a start at the absence of his eye mask and his sister’s loud voice and nearly screams at what she plans to do with it.

“OKAY OKAY, I’m up, heading to the dining table now,” Youngjae scrambles out of bed, taking off his eye mask, and he hears his sister cackling behind him.

“Aigoo. Go wash up your hands and your face, ok?” With a pat on his cheek, she leaves him and goes to the dining room to prepare any final touches to the breakfast table. Youngjae scrubs his sister’s touch off his cheek and heads to the bathroom where Daehyun has just finished showering.

“DAEHYU-“ He raises his hand to knock on the door but instead facepalms himself because he realizes, _hello, deaf brother._

 _I’m still waking up, okay?_ he thinks to himself. Shaking off the sleepiness from his head, he tests the doorknob and finds it to be unlocked.  _Oh, he must be done showering._ He enters the bathroom and sees his brother half-naked in his underwear and jeans, about to put on his shirt.

His brother’s eyes catches him once the head popped out of his shirt, and there is a cheerful glint in them.

[HEY.] _(Morning, bro.)_

Youngjae stares at his twin brother. [Morning, ns[DAEHYUN]…why not wake-me earlier? NOONA PRANK-ME ALMOST, EYE-MASK PULL, I WAKE-UP *pretends to gasp in shock* SEE NOONA LOOK-LIKE LET-GO WILL.]  _(Morning, Daehyun…how come you didn’t wake me up earlier? Noona almost pulled a trick on me, pulling my eye mask until I woke up. She gave me a fright, and was planning to release the eye mask back to my face.)_  Shaking his head, he proceeds to wash his hands and face.

He hears Daehyun chuckling, and glares at him. [FOR-FOR? NOT. FUNNY. HOW FEEL IF SAME-YOU-ME?]  _(What, it wasn’t that funny. How would you feel if she did that to you?)_  Daehyun shakes his head, with eyes shining of laughter, and pats his younger twin’s back as he leaves to join Sunhwa at the dining table.

When the siblings finally gather at the table, they chat about their plans for the day, hands bustling about in excitement or dejection and the mixture of their voices, sweet with rough low voices from the brothers and a cheerful light tone emitting from the sister. Chuckles can often be heard in the conversation, one would assume that they seem pretty close and they would be right to assume so.

A light starts flashing, a signal to Daehyun that someone is at the door. He goes to check at the entrance. Peering in the peephole, he sees a red-haired Bang Yongguk and dirty-blond Im Jaebum casually talking about something. They stand there looking casual, with their bags over their shoulders.

Looking over to the dining table where his siblings are eating, Daehyun flaps his hand at Youngjae while calling, "YONGSHAY, YAH. YONGSHAY!"

Once Youngjae looks up, there was a flurry of hands as Daehyun warned his brother. [GO-THERE BATHROOM SHOWER, CHANGE QUICK. ns[YONGGUK] {HYUNG} ns[JAEBUM] OUTSIDE. GO!] ( _Yah, Youngjae, go shower and change in the bathroom. Yongguk-hyung and JB are outside! NOW!)_  

Youngjae scrambles for the bedroom to get his clothes and runs for the bathroom; once Daehyun feels nothing on the floor after a quick series of thuds that Daehyun assumed to be Youngjae running, he goes to open the door. Sunhwa has already cleaned up the table and is making herself look at least presentable.

“Ayyy, what’s up, Dae?” [“WHAT-UP” ns[DAEHYUN]?] Yongguk drawls with a hint of laidback and chill tone to his low, bass voice. Jaebum, or JB as he prefers to be called, stands there with a smile, as he waves to Daehyun with a “Hey there”.

Daehyun smiles. “’Ey yais, nothi’mush. Yongshay’ll be owht shoon. C’monin.” [HELLO, NOTHING. ns[YOUNGJAE] SHOWER FINISH SOON. COME-IN.] _(Hey guys, nothing much. Youngjae will be out soon. Come on in.)_

“Aite, cool, no probs man.” [THUMB-UP.] Yongguk has this smile on his face as he enters in with a humble swag, hugging Daehyun before politely greeting Sunhwa with a bow of his head. Jaebum follows in, and does the same as Yongguk when he sees Sunhwa.

“Yongguk, aigoo…” Sunhwa softly exclaims to Yongguk when she notices the change in his hair color. Daehyun sees his sister joking to Yongguk-hyung about his habit of changing hair colors every month. Out of habit, Sunhwa signs while talking to include him in the conversation. 

“Oh, JB-yah…did you eat already? We have some leftovers here if you want. Here sit, you’re getting too skinny, noona’s getting a little worried about you.” Frowning slightly, Sunhwa guides the young visitor to his chair and Jaebum humbly accepts the meal without complaint, smiling at her in gratitude.

“Thanks, noona.” He looks at Daehyun with a questioning look as if asking him,  _Is it okay to eat now?_ Daehyun laughs, “No pobem. Juss’eet, kay?” [“NO-BIG-DEAL”, EAT.]  _(No problem, just eat, ok?)_

Yongguk added, “Yah, JB…just eat. Haha, it’ll be fine, we can wait.” 

Jaebum eats as Sunhwa goes to the kitchen to wash the dishes. Daehyun and Yongguk join him at the table and start up a casual conversation, with Yongguk interpreting for Daehyun. Jaebum studies Daehyun as he signs his heart out, eyes smiling in cheerfulness and relaxedness, his hands moving here and there as he replies back, his face contorting in different emotions with every movement of his eyebrows, nose, eyes and mouth. He also observes Yongguk and is amazed by him; how he constantly alternates personalities as he interprets for both parties, and checking on both Jaebum and Daehyun as the conversation goes on. One minute, he is interpreting with a calm posture for one party about what the other party said, the next he is joining in with thoughts and answers of his own with a carefree, excited personality that really screams "Yongguk".

Sunhwa also joins in the conversation from a distance, often listening when she can as she washes the dishes. Jaebum starts feeling slightly awkward because he has not experienced a lot of signing in his life and only met Daehyun a few months ago. He makes an effort to try signing, but there is a lot of discipline needed to get the signs right. Often he just resorts to paper and pen communication; luckily Daehyun has no problem with that.

Daehyun senses the awkwardness easily from the body language, but he does not let it bother him. He wants to make Jaebum feel more welcome and comfortable with him. Sunhwa and Youngjae usually interpret for him, but if Yongguk is around, Daehyun does not mind him helping out if the other two are busy with their hands.

As she places the cleanly washed dishes in the dish rack, Sunhwa asks the boys about their siblings and how they are doing. Sunhwa has been close friends with Hana, Yongguk’s sister, and Jieun, who is Yongguk’s girlfriend as well, since high school, and they hang out whenever they can. Both Yongguk and Jaebum have younger brothers, Junhong and Jinyoung respectively, who are attending their last year of high school. Their younger brothers connected through mutual interests of dance and rap, which is how Yongguk came to know the “JJ Bros”. 

The Bang family has known the Jung family for quite some time, having been neighbors since the Jung family moved in post-divorce. The Im family is relatively new to the families, as Jaebum is Youngjae’s best friend from the university. It has only been a few months since they met but they are inseparable. Both Jaebum and Youngjae are pretty smart, and they love to sing. Yongguk attends the same university as theirs so he is the oldest hyung of the group, watching out for them most of the time. With this weird network of connections, everyone knows each other pretty well.

By the time Jaebum has finished eating, Daehyun sees his twin brother fixing his hair as he enters the living room through the hallway. Youngjae is looking fresh and clean with his school clothes, carrying his and Daehyun’s backpacks. He spots Jaebum and greets him excitedly.

“Hey, Jaebum! Wha…did you just eat my breakfast?” A sudden look of hurt flashes across his face as he notices Jaebum sitting on the seat he previously occupied, halfway chewing on a French toast. He looks down at the plate that was supposed to be his, Jaebum’s squirrel-puffed cheek, and at everyone.

Jaebum’s eyes, which earlier seemed happy, has now widen in shock and panic. He stops chewing his French toast, glances down to the plate, and looks to Sunhwa with disbelief.

Sunhwa simply nods, “Yep. He ate your breakfast.” She raises her eyebrow in defiance. “That’s what you get for talking too much during breakfast, and hardly even finishing your favorite breakfast that I cooked for you.” 

Daehyun, although there was no signing in the conversation just then, has read their lips and has a full grasp on the situation. Yongguk has recently placed his arm around Daehyun’s shoulders, and watches the whole situation with amusement, biting on his lip to contain himself from laughing.

Youngjae whimpers. “B-bu-but…I was three-quarters of the way done!! I wanted to finish it after I showered!”

“Well too late,” Sunhwa retorts, “you didn’t say anything. Here JB-yah, a fresh apple for you.” She hands him the apple, and hands the others bananas and oranges. “Well guys, you best go ahead make your way to your classes! Study hard and do well, you hear?” [O-K, SUGGEST YOU-ALL GROUP-MOVE UNIVERSITY. STUDY-STUDY, DO WELL, UNDERSTAND?]

“Yes, noona,” comes the mixed groans from the twins; a weary groan from Youngjae and a cheerful lilt from Daehyun. The twins take a moment to head back to the bathroom to brush their teeth, and once finished, they grab their college bags from their bedroom. Yongguk lets the three guys all exit before nodding to Sunhwa and closing the door on his way out.

In the morning air, the appearance of a group of guys chatting with a flurry mixture of timid, confident and relaxed hands may be a rare sight, but it is a daily occurrence for the neighborhood.


	4. Zitao

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day of college life for Zitao.

**Huang Apartment**

* * *

Zitao wakes up on a Tuesday morning, and to a light blue color of his room that fills his vision. The sun is peeping out of the horizon, slowly warming up the city. Blinking his eyes, Zitao peers at the clock, reading it to be 6AM. He scratches his head and looks to the window, the city blanketed with the morning light blue sky, with some lights turned on here and there. Wearing a sleeveless shirt and flannel pajama pants, he gets out of bed and heads upstairs to the roof of his apartment.

There is a slight chill in the air as the sun spreads its rays of warmth on the surfaces of towers of steel and glass, and of shorter structures of wood, concrete and plaster. Zitao’s apartment’s rooftop is one of the many surfaces warmed by the sun’s heat.

Huang Qian and Zhenli, or Jinri as she is often called, are seated on their mats on the floor not too far from where Zitao is standing. Qian has her long, blonde hair tied up in a braided ponytail as she meditates with her eyes closed, breathing in the cool air and taking in the warm heat from the sun’s rays. When the rays shine on her head, Zitao thinks his sister looks heavenly and mystical. Her legs are crossed in the lotus position, her back is set straight, and her fists meet by the intermediate phalanges. She has a faint, tight-lipped smile; she seems very relaxed and too deep into her meditation to notice neither Zitao’s presence nor Jinri’s movements.

Next to Qian, Jinri is doing yoga; she stretches her legs, one leg extended as the other is hooked towards her body, and she lets her upper chest rest on her extended leg as she reaches for her left foot. After holding her position for 30 seconds, she repeats the same thing as she alternates to her right leg, again holding for 30 seconds. She sits up and reaches for the sky, tilting her body side to side, and breathing slowly. Her wavy, brown hair sways undisturbed by the slight chilly breeze on the rooftop of their apartment. Fully stretched, she settles herself on the mat before following her older sister with the lotus meditation. Turning her head, she looks up to see her brother walking up to them. She curves her lips in an acknowledging manner, her eyes showing a faint sign of sleepiness wearing away.

 _Good morning gege_ , she mouths in silence, as to not disturb their eldest sister. Zitao replies back with a smile and joins them on the floor, stretching his limbs before readying himself to a lotus position.

**_Tweet...chirp…whooosshhh…._ **

He breathes in slowly and calmly, shutting out everything – the background noises of his neighborhood, the gears of his mind working, and whatever he senses from his spot in the world. He blocks out his five senses and relaxes, thinking of nothing, but at the same time, everything. In his mind’s eye, he pictures the universe, the world, and pitch darkness.

 _From nothing comes everything, and everything leads to nothing,_ he thinks to himself. _Time is nonexistent. Space is relative. The world is but a single ant to the universe, and in this world, the ant is but a single particle of atom, very much as a single grain of sand at the beach, to the universe_.

The Huang siblings sit there, not moving, just breathing, and pondering what they feel that needs to be pondered. Zitao pictures the universe in his mind – closing into his planet, closing into his country, into his city, into his apartment and into where he is currently sitting at. He gradually begins to take in his surroundings and to understand the current timeframe he is in. He hears the birds chirping, he smells the plants from the nearby garden store, and he feels less of the breeze and more of the warmth now that the sun is above the horizon. Exhaling softly, he opens his eyes and looks to his left. Qian and Jinri are looking at him with calm composures on their faces, smiling slightly.

“Morning, Zitao… are you guys hungry? I’ll go make some _congee_ , _you tiao_ , and tea,” Qian informs them as she gets up from her seat. “Both of you better wash up for school, it’s almost 6:30. The sun is well past the horizon.” With that, she heads to the stairs that take her down to their apartment.

Zitao looks at Jinri, with eyebrows slightly raised and nodding his head to the stairs. She nods in agreement and they both get up to follow their sister. Zitao lets his youngest sister use the shower because he knows Jinri takes a long time to shower and get ready for school, at least 30 minutes, and he usually takes quick showers, and a change of clothes afterwards. He gathers up his stuff and leaves them on his desk, so he can get them on his way to the shower after Jinri comes out. Grabbing his notepad and pencil, he leaves his room to meet with his sister in the kitchen.

Their apartment is a hybrid of modern and quaint. The Huang siblings have a hybrid lifestyle, adhering to the traditions and yet still being flexible with the modern culture. There is a couch, leaving space between its back and the kitchen countertop, which separates the kitchen/dining area and the living space. There is a television screen mounted on a wall, with a simple-looking TV stand below with shelves and no drawers. In the kitchen/dining area, the table is really low so that one has to sit or kneel on the seat pillow to dine. The kitchen has one entrance; there is really just a wall on one end of the kitchen. Leaving the main space, one heads into the hallway where a bathroom and a laundry room are on one side, and the other side has Zitao’s bedroom and the shared bedroom of Jinri and Qian. Straight ahead is the stairway that leads to the rooftop; their apartment is among the few on the top floor that have a private access to the rooftops.

Back in the kitchen, Qian is stirring _congee_ , a thick rice porridge often eaten for breakfast, when she looks up to see Zitao still in his morning clothes. Once she hears the shower running, she figures that it was Jinri who is taking a shower.

“Tao- _dì_ , don’t forget that Luhan is coming over in a little while. You have a morning exam at school. Are you confident about it?“ she implores. Zitao looks down to his notepad and starts writing. He holds it up with a small smirk on his face, looking very confident.

Qian continues to stir but looks up and reads the note.

_I know. I’m ready for the exam, and it shouldn’t be too hard. It’s just calculus, what else?_

One glance at her brother and she lets out a chuckle, giving in to her brother’s confidence. “Okay, okay. You seem ready for the exam. How would I know, I never took calculus but at least I managed to pass Chinese arithmetic and trigonometry.

“Tao- _di_ , you’re going to do great with your future. Me, I’m just a freelance masseuse with degrees in culinary arts, massage therapy, and dance, and helping out with the neighborhood. What did I get to become? A dancer and a ballerina, with a knack for cooking and for massage therapy. There’s no job for me to compete in the business world. You have that potential, Zitao. I know you’ll do well with your math major from here on.” She begins to put a ladleful of _congee_ into each of the three bowls.

Zitao nods in response as he watches his sister set the _congee_ bowls on the table. Placing the notepad and pencil on the kitchen countertop, he goes to help her cook _you_ _tiao_ , a type of donut, and sets up the table with teacups and a teakettle. He picks out some jasmine tea leaves from the pantry and sprinkles a few into their cups.

Qian goes to boil the water, and at that moment Jinri opens the bathroom door and exits with her school uniform on. Zitao looks up when he hears Jinri call him, informing him that the bathroom is free. He looks to Qian, who nods and tells him that they will wait for him, and there is no hurry because she still needs to boil the water for tea.

Zitao goes to his room to grab his school clothes and heads for the bathroom. Closing the door, he studies himself in the mirror. Years of wushu have formed his body really well. Although math is his favorite subject and he aims to be a mathematician, wushu remains to be his passion, the traditional martial arts and the meditation keeps him in balance. Putting his school clothes on the toilet seat cover and with toothpaste on his toothbrush, he strips himself of his pajamas and goes to take a shower while brushing his teeth.

 _Another way to conserve water,_ he thought. He rinses himself before shutting off the water. He shampoos his hair and soaps his body except for his face, as he is still brushing his teeth. He then rinses off the soap from his body while washing out the shampoo in his hair, spits out the toothpaste, and proceeds to wash his face. Feeling fresh and clean from the shower, he grabs his towel and dries himself off to put on his school clothes.

Putting his pajamas away in his room, he goes to join his sisters to dine for breakfast. They bow their heads first in prayer and then start eating in comfortable silence. After they are full, they bring their finished plates to the kitchen sink.

**_Knock knock…_ **

The three siblings look up to the door and glance at the clock. It is almost 8AM. Zitao’s friends must be here. Jinri goes to get the door as Zitao and Qian wash up the dishes. The older siblings hear their sister make a sound of surprise and see her open the door further to let the guest enter.

It seems that they did not expect more than one visitor as Zhang Luhan enters first with a tall boy next to him, both of them holding hands.

 _“_ _Nǐ hǎo mǎ,_ Luhan- _di_? _Ah, huānyíng dào wǒjiā lái!_ ” Qian greets to the older brother of the group. “It’s been way too long since last we saw each other…How have you be-“ She spots the other boys coming inside, “Oh! Welcome! Come on in!”

As Jinri takes a step back from the door, the two boys enter, one trailing behind the other, holding onto the shorter boy’s shoulders. The shorter of the two has such fair skin as white as snow, giving off a youthful look but he seems to be older in age, and has a good-natured personality. The taller one seems even younger but seems to be quite an eye candy with his bronze skin.

There is a shout behind the door, and Jinri moves to check before she squeals too. She goes to tackle someone behind the door.

“YAH! What are you guys doing here? I thought I was gonna meet you at school??...Ehahahahaha~!! Jiejie, Gēgē!! I want you to meet my friend, Kim Soojung!”

Meanwhile, Zitao nods with a smile on his face to Luhan, who smiles and waves in return. At the new visitors, the voiceless young man looks puzzled. Before he can signal Luhan about the others, Jinri is coming back inside, leading two girls.

The Huang siblings recognize one of them to be Luhan’s youngest sister, Amber, the girl whose boyish charm often misleads people into thinking she is a guy. However, the new girl has a bright face but seems very shy, as if she is not sure how to act properly in front of the hosts.

As everyone file into the home and stand around in the living room, Tao just smiles and waves while Qian almost repeats what she had said earlier. _“Dà jiā hǎo, nǐmén hǎo ma? Huānyíng dào wǒjiā lái!_ ”

Luhan and Amber smile back warmly and reply, _“Hěn hǎo, Qian-jie.”_

However, out of the six guests that heard Qian’s greeting, four of them have no clue what was being said. The fair-skinned young man shows a sincere smile and nods, pretending to understand what he just heard, while the others have a completely different reaction. The two boys and Soojung look flabbergasted. They glance at each other with confused looks on their faces, not sure how to respond to the greeting.

“Er…” The boys start at the same time, and they both look flustered to speak Mandarin. Soojung glances at the boys and turns around to face Amber, who nods encouragingly to the direction of the hosts. Soojung widens her eyes and nervously looks to her hosts.

Qian notices this and asks Soojung, _“Yǒu shé me wèntí ma?”_  

Soojung lets out a small squeak. _We are making a really bad impression right now,_ she thinks to herself.

“Nì hǎo mǎ, w-wǒ …uhm…shì Soojung?” Utterly embarrassed, she bows her head in shame. The boys stare at her in pity and shock, too nervous to say anything.

Jinri saves the situation by explaining to her siblings, “Oh~ Jiejie, gēgē. My friend, Soojung-ah, doesn’t know a lot of Mandarin. I don’t think the others do too.”

Qian catches herself and brings her hand up to her mouth, giggling. _“Ŏmŏ, jinjja? Gwaenchanayo~ Uri-neun hangukeo-ro ihae-hago malhal su isseo."_  The two tall boys of the group and Soojung perk up their ears at the sound of their familiar tongue and heave sighs of relief.

_“Cheoneun Huang Qian-imnida, ddo jeogi-eh, nae namdongsaeng Zitao-imnida.”_

The older boy remains unfazed and politely bows, introducing himself to the hosts. With a gentle voice that matches his personality, he greets, _“Annyǒnghaseyo, cheoneun Kim Joonmyeon-imnida.”_ The tan guy then introduces himself as Kim Jongin, with a side note that he is not blood-related to Joonmyeon, they just happened to have the same surname.

Luhan tugs his friend to introduce himself and he looks extremely nervous and embarrassed. The hosts look at him with curious eyes and get their answers when they hear him as he bows, _“A-Annyeonghaseyo, cheoneun Kim S-Sehun-imnida.”_ Sehun wills himself to at least glance at the hosts before looking away, his face red with embarrassment. Once the hosts understand what Sehun was saying, they realize that he has a serious speech defect.

Soojung quickly starts on her introduction, finishing it with a polite bow, and shows a small smile of relief at being able to speak Korean comfortably. Luhan then tells the hosts that Sehun, Jongin, and Soojung are siblings.

“Oh!” Qian exclaims in understanding. “So this is Sehun you’ve been telling us about. How delightful to meet you, and your siblings! You as well, Joonmyeon!”

While this is happening, Zitao is standing there in the kitchen, observing with an unreadable expression on his face. After Qian says her recent comment, he smiles when some of the group members look his way, and nods at them with assurance. Qian giggles to herself and sincerely apologizes for being rude in assuming they all knew Chinese. There are voices from the group of visitors with “No no, it’s okay!!” and “Qian-jie, don’t worry about it”.

Soojung brings up a question, “What do you want us to call you? Qian…jie? Or Qian…unnie? Zitao-oppa?” with Jongin adding in “Qian-noona? Zitao-gē? Zitao-hyung?”

The older siblings look at each other and Qian suggests that the kids can call her with a different name: Vick-unnie/noona, short for Victoria. Zitao, on the other hand, grabs his notepad and pencil resting on the countertop and begins to write. As he writes, he leaves the kitchen and moves towards the group. The kids peer at him nervously and then he holds up his notepad. It reads, “ _You can call me Tao-oppa/hyung, it’s shorter._ ”

The trio stares at the notepad but Soojung looks up to Zitao with a raised eyebrow, “Uhm…I’m sorry but why coul-OW.”

Almost everyone looks at her, wondering what was the cause for her to squeal in pain. One hand covering her arm, Soojung scowls at her brother, Jongin, who had pinched her. “What was that for? Aish…” She only gets a warning glare from her brother.

Amber whispers to Soojung, “He’s mute, remember?” Soojung went from white to red, as she looks ashamed of herself and bows in apology to Jinri, Zitao and Qian. They smile in understanding.

“Tao-yah,” Joonmyeon questions, “how old are you?”

The other male writes: _I am a ‘93er…Are you older?_

At the sight of his words, Joonmyeon brightens, and with a chuckle, he confirms that he is Zitao’s hyung.

The crowd, now familiar with one another and a little closer than when they first met, chats for a while until it was time for them to go to school. Qian and Luhan reminisces about the time their families had been neighbors, before realizing how the three siblings and Joonmyeon feel awkward as if they were intruding into something personal.

“But where’s Yixing, he isn’t with you?” Qian asks.

“Ah, right, we’ll be meeting my brother and Jongdae at the university, he had to pick him up.”

“Jongdae?” Qian looks distracted as she tries to recall the name. “Oh! Your classmate, right, Zitao?” She receives a nod before looking back to Luhan. “Picking him up, huh? Are they…?” she giggles, curious to know.

Luhan smiles, catching on to what she was going to say. “Well…they’re friends for now, but between you and me, I think there’s something going on between them that they don’t know just yet,” he winks, and Qian chuckles. “Yixing really seems to care a lot about him, and it was never about the blindness, but something else I don’t know what, that drew my brother to Jongdae…”

“That’s good; I’ve read what Zitao had to say about Jongdae, he seems to be a really kind young man.”

“Indeed…” There is a little prolonged silence that follows afterwards.

“So Tao,” Joonmyeon starts, getting everyone’s attention as he looks to the said male, “did you know Jongdae before university or during?” Zitao mouths _During, last term_.

“Huh…And it’s been almost two years since you two joined our campus?” Nod. “See, I knew Jongdae for a year, and I’ve been hanging out with you,” he directs it to Luhan, “and your brother since I came to the university…

“Luhan, we’ve known each other for the past two years, so…” he shifts his focus back to Zitao, “why haven’t I met you a year ago?”

“Because back then, he and Jongdae were just classmates, hardly acquaintances. They became close over the year, and I didn’t even know about Zitao until a few weeks ago, actually, around the time this term started. The past two years and you’ve been in the same university as me!” Luhan directs the comment to Zitao with a smile, “And it had been like what, seven years since we last saw each other.” Luhan breathes out a soft incredulous laugh. “How could we have missed out on each other, Zitao…how? It’s like you’re a ninja.” The group laughs as Zitao offers a broad smile in return.

“Ah, look at the time; you guys should get going!” Qian notes the clock on the kitchen wall.

The Huang siblings take their bags and hug their eldest sister before leaving with their friends. Qian wishes Zitao good luck on his exam, and Jinri to do well in school.

Outside the apartment building, there is a heavy breeze and the group of students is about to split ways, due to their schools being in the opposite directions. Zitao hugs his sister and he sees Soojung waving with a blush, the memory of her rude actions still fresh in her mind. Zitao grins at her and pats her head, then turns around to leave with the guys.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Heading to Sunyoung and her brothers’ apartment, Soojung asks Jinri, “Yah, Jinri…why did you not remind me about your brother? I was so embarrassed because I didn’t know he couldn’t speak!” Amber places her arm around Soojung’s shoulders and tells her, “It’s alright, Yixing-gē and I had the same reaction as you did when we met Zitao a long time ago. Luhan-gē was the only one not bothered by it.

“Don’t feel too bad, Soojung-ah, lighten up! We’re almost at Sunyoung’s place now.” Soojung, feeling a bit curious, looks at both of her companions and shyly asks, “How do you say _‘_ Can you help me with my Mandarin?’…I’d like to learn it sometime if I can.”

Jinri and Amber look at her with surprise and smile at her. Jinri coos, “Aww, Soojung-ah. You don’t have to learn Chinese to speak with my family, hehehe. We’re pretty much bilingual.”

Soojung pouts, “But it sounds so cool, though…”

Amber replies to her, “Alright, here it goes: _‘Kěyǐ bāng wǒ tígāo zhōngwén mǎ?’_ ”

Soojung widens her eyes at the sounds of tone rising and falling in different spots and bites her lip, “Okay maybe…in a little later.” Jinri and Amber laugh and link arms with her before taking off to the Lee’s apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
> > “Nǐ hǎo mǎ, Luhan-di? Ah, huānyíng dào wǒjiā lái!” = (Hello, how are you, young brother Luhan? Ah, welcome to our home!)  
> > “Dà jiā hǎo, nǐmén hǎo ma? Huānyíng dào wǒjiā lái!” = (Hello, how are you, everyone? Welcome to our home!)  
> > “Hěn hǎo, Qian-jie.” = (I’m fine, older sister/female friend.)  
> > “Yǒu shé me wèntí ma?” = (Is there something wrong?)  
> > “Nì hǎo mǎ, w-wǒ …uhm…shì Soojung?” = (Hello, I am Soojung?)  
> > "Ŏmŏ, jinjja? Gwaenchanayo~ Uri-neun hangukeo-ro ihae-hago malhal su isseo.” = (Oh is that so? It’s okay, we can understand and speak Korean.)  
> > “Cheoneun Huang Qian-imnida, ddo jeogi-eh, nae namdongsaeng Zitao-imnida.” = (My name is Huang Qian, and my brother over there is Zitao.)


	5. Kyungsoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One college day in the life of Park Kyungsoo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With the Deaf dialogues, when there is no all upper case letters, I intended for the signer to not sign with vigor, as to imitate how hearing people would mutter in low voices.

**PARK APARTMENT**

**_ _ **

* * *

 

**_Bzzzzzt…bbbzzzzttttttt…BBBZZZZZZZZTTTTTT._ **

Park Kyungsoo wakes up to his pillow vibrating, wondering how the heck is his pillow vibrating. He realizes that it must be his cell phone vibrating in alarm. He reaches under his pillow to find nothing before he reaches inside his pillow and finds his cell phone there. He flips it open and looks at the time. It is 7:00AM. He looks up from his bed and sees the bed above him, with a human arm dangling out. He knows Baekhyun, his older twin brother, is not awake yet so he pulls a prank on him by throwing up his pillow to smack him. There is a reaction as the dangling arm disappears from view.

Kyungsoo takes a moment to look at his surroundings. The sun is already up because there is a dim brightness in the room through the curtained window adjacent to their bunk bed.

Getting up from his lower bunk bed, Kyungsoo stands up to stretch and looks at his twin, who is blearily awake, stretching his body to an extent a cat would stretch. Baekhyun then turns his head slightly to face his younger brother. Kyungsoo makes out a faint, muffled groan in his ears that must be from Baekhyun, and smiles at him.

[GOOD DREAM LAST N-] _(Had a good dream last n-)_ Kyungsoo is about to sign “night” when Baekhyun mumbles something and turns his head around. Frowning, Kyungsoo resorts to speaking and prods his older twin awake.

“Hyung…wake up! It’s already 7:00AM! Isn’t your boyfriend coming over soon?”

This gets Baekhyun up from his mattress, resting on his elbows.

“Oh crap, Chanyeol’s coming over around 7:30AM! Wait, what time is it?!” He panics and looks around for their clock. Kyungsoo tries to understand his brother’s mumblings, but his brother’s face keeps moving around. He scrunches his face in confusion.

“…What? Baekhyun, I don’t have my hearing aids yet,” Kyungsoo shoots back, “but uhm…the clock says 7:05AM.” He holds up their clock in his hand so Baekhyun can see the red digital numbers staring back.

Just then, a male voice belted out, “OH! I’M CURIOUS~ YEAH!!”

Kyungsoo catches the look of despair on his brother’s face, as the other male groans and flops back down to his mattress, bringing his pillow to cover his ears.

“…Did you hear something, hyung?” Kyungsoo inquires, raising an eyebrow.

Baekhyun lifts a hand to sign. [Yeah, ns[JONGHYUN]{hyung} yell recent. T-O-O EARLY MORNING!] _(Yeah, Jonghyun-hyung just belted out loud…and it’s too early in the morning for singing)_ He raises his head from the pillow to speak, not realizing it will fall on deaf ears.

“Ugh…it’s just Chanyeol coming over, what’s so exciting about it that makes him want to sing? Shouldn’t it be me that’s supposed to be in a good mood and singing?”

Right on time, Jonghyun belts another line, “I'M SO CURIOUS YEAH~ I’M SO CURIOUS!”

**_Om…kyuris, ya…om…kyuris…_ **

Kyungsoo’s ears finally pick up on the faint garbled sound, and he knows it’s their brother singing, judging from the way Baekhyun rolls his eyes and turns on his side to face him.

[*Baekhyun flaps his hand dismissively* Go shower, I talk with {hyung}. I-f continue, tattle-on-him will; inform {noonadeul}.] “Kyungsoo, why don’t you go ahead and shower while I have a talk with hyung. If he continues like that, I’ll tell the noonas about him,” he instructs Kyungsoo, facing him while he gets off his bed, and climbs down the ladder.

With a nod, Kyungsoo heads to the bathroom, grabbing his towel on the way. Baekhyun groans as he wakes up further out of his reverie and leaves the room for the kitchen, whining about his brother’s singing on the way.

“Hyung, what’s so important about Chanyeol coming over that you had to sing so loud??”

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

The apartment that the brothers live in has an unusual layout. When entering the brothers’ apartment, the visitor would see an open floor space that has the dining, living and kitchen areas together, separated by half-walls. One half-wall is opposite the side of the swinging door, serving both as a mini counter to hold shoes and keys and a separation from the dining room to the entry and living room; another half-wall separates the kitchen from the living room to serve as an island. There is a huge flat screen tv on the wall facing opposite to the kitchen and dining rooms. The sofa is placed somewhere between the TV and kitchen, making a wide gap for people to walk through to the hallway. The “main” hallway is merely a rectangular area of space where, when entering it, one will be facing a wall with a door off centered to the right leading to the twins’ bedroom, with Jonghyun’s bedroom on their left, and the laundry on their right. One bathroom is shared between the twins’ bedroom and Jonghyun’s bedroom. There is another half-bathroom behind the kitchen at the end of the hallway, on chances that they have visitors.

The brothers are not the only siblings in the Park family; they have older twin sisters living next door. Taeyeon and Miyoung, or as the latter prefers to be called Tiffany/Fany, have a 5 year gap with their younger twin siblings. Jonghyun and the sister twins are a year apart. They used to live in the same apartment as Jonghyun is living in now, but moved next door to give Kyungsoo and Baekhyun space to live in while attending college. These twin sisters are student teachers at the university nearby, which the twin brothers are currently attending. Jonghyun is a songwriter and does singing gigs at his boyfriend’s café. Baekhyun is pursuing music in college as he hopes to become a singer like his older brother, while Kyungsoo pursues to become a chef. Even if they all have different majors, musical talent is a natural forte for all of them because they hail from generations of singers and musicians. Kyungsoo, despite his hearing loss, can still sing, but it took him several years to train and discipline himself to sing in tune.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

In the bathroom, Kyungsoo closes the two doors that leads the bedrooms before facing the giant mirror in front of him, studying his face and hands. He turns around to slide the door behind him open that leads to the shower and toilet, then strips and grabs a towel to wrap around his waist.

Retrieving his toothbrush and toothpaste from the sink counter to start brushing his teeth, he walks over to the bathtub and slightly draws the curtain to reveal the faucets. He turns on the tub faucet to adjust the water to his suitable temperature for showering, and once it is warm enough, he switches it to the showerhead and closes the curtain.

Kyungsoo takes off his towel and hangs it on a hook near the shower. Still brushing his teeth, he enters the shower through the other end of the curtain. When he is done brushing his teeth, he spits it out and places his toothbrush in a high safe place. He begins to shampoo his hair and lather soap on his body, humming to a classic pop song.

**_When I’m a billionaire, oh~ oh~…_ **

Feeling fresh and clean, Kyungsoo takes his toothbrush with him as he gets out of the shower. He dries himself off with his towel and wraps it around his waist. He opens the door, places his toothbrush in the toothbrush rack, and goes into his shared bedroom to change clothes. Once he has his clothes on, he hangs his towel in the bathroom, goes around the room to make his and Baekhyun’s beds.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kyungsoo takes note that Baekhyun has just entered and stops at the doorframe. The other twin realizes how much of a mess they had made from last night, making paper airplanes and trying to shoot crumpled papers at a small bin I one corner of the room.

“Oh man…we need to clean that up,” he chuckles as he looks to his brother, thinking that he has already put on his hearing aids. Apparently not, because Kyungsoo has not heard him nor is he looking his way, and is walking over to his desk where his Dry ‘N Store box is placed on the surface.

Baekhyun’s chuckles die out as he watches his brother open the box to retrieve his hearing aids. The box keeps his hearing aids cool and dry over night, hence the name.

Just then, Kyungsoo looks up at his brother before he plugs the hearing aids into his ears, and gives a small smile.

**_Silence…_ **

**_Dun dun dun dun dunn… A rush of noises enters his ears and he hears the hum of a fan running above the stove._ **

“Hm? Did you say something?”

Baekhyun laughs and shakes his head. “You go on,” he inclines his head in the direction of where Jonghyun is cooking. “I’m gonna clean up the floor, then take a shower.” [CLEAN++; FINISH, SHOWER.]

“Oh okay.” Kyungsoo takes his leave and heads to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Jonghyun is humming while cooking up a hearty breakfast that his younger brother, Kyungsoo, has taught him a few months ago. He had been writing down all of his brother’s recipes and instructions on blank notecards, ever since the first time Kyungsoo decided to teach him about variations in cooking with bland meals. He takes the notecards out to follow along whenever he feels like making a grand meal. For breakfast, he is making bibimbap, a hot bowl with rice, beef, chili pepper paste, vegetables and a raw egg on top so it cooks up on the hot surface of the pot. Along with that, Jonghyun plans to bring out the mini side dishes that he bought from a grocery market yesterday.

The twins have complained in the past that Jonghyun has not tried to do something spontaneous with meals because it always consists of just rice, ramyun, and kimchi. Now that Kyungsoo has taught him simple meals to make for at least three people, Jonghyun enjoys cooking for his brothers. It makes him feel more motivated and responsible around the kitchen, but sadly the same cannot be said about his bedroom.

“Good morning, hyung!”

Jonghyun looks up from his cutting up vegetables to turn and see Kyungsoo coming.

“Good morning, Kyungsoo-ah!” says Jonghyun cheerily before he looks down to focus back on slicing vegetables. “I’m cutting up some vegetables for the bibimbap,” he informs as he turns his head halfway so that Kyungsoo will notice that he is talking. “We have some leftover side dis-”

**_BEEP BEEP BEEP…_ **

Kyungsoo panics because that meant the batteries are dying, and he has to replace them soon.

“…ood to you?”

Kyungsoo stares at his brother with a hint of surprise, feeling pressured to answer with something. Poor Jonghyun does not notice this when he asked him of his breakfast plans. So in that brief moment of silence following the offer, Jonghyun finishes slicing the last few slices of the bibimbap and sidesteps to the stovetop to stir the kimchi fried rice.

“Um…”

“Well?” he says, slightly louder than before. “Is that a yes or no?”

 _Uh oh, he sounds a little pissed,_ the youngest brother thinks to himself.

“Er…what was to me?”

Sure enough, Jonghyun’s patience ran out when he turns around. “YAH.”

The outburst makes Kyungsoo jump, as he stares wide-eyed at his scary-looking brother. “You’re one to talk. Don’t you appreciate your hyung cooking breakfast for you all? I said ‘what do you think of my cooking suggestion?’ And you said ‘what was to me’?”

“It sounds great!” Kyungsoo interrupts with a shy, lip-biting smile, pearly whites showing and the sides of his big eyes crinkling. Jonghyun scoffs and turns around, muttering “It sounds great, he says. That’s not even close to a response for a question like that.”

Kyungsoo goes up to his brother and hugs him from behind, resting his chin on his brother’s shoulder. “Hmm, it looks great, and the breakfast smells really delicious, hyung! You’re getting really better at this. About earlier, my hearing aid batteries are dying, so I couldn’t respond.”

Jonghyun immediately softens when he hears his brother’s explanation, instantly forgiving him in his head. He turns around in the embrace to hug him back. Jonghyun sighs and coos in spite of himself, “Yah, why are you so cute…? My heart can’t handle you at all, baby brother.” He pats his brother’s bottom gently.

Kyungsoo pulls away, pouting, and leans on the counter next to his hyung. “Hyunngg, I don’t do _cute_. What are you even talking about?”

Jonghyun wheels around to look at him with his raised eyebrows, as if saying “You did it just now.” Kyungsoo stares back, frowning deeply with defeat. It is such a total blow to Jonghyun’s being, his heart has already melted at his precious puppy-eyed brother, and he gets way too soft easily. Jonghyun smiles and brings his free hand to cup the back of Kyungsoo’s head and ruffles his hair. He leans closer and gives Kyungsoo a peck on his cheek. Kyungsoo is startled by the sudden affection, but does not show signs of disgust. After all, they are pretty close in their brotherly relationship.

“Come on, _bbo-bbo_ , _(Give me a peck),_ ” Jonghyun says to his brother as he turns a cheek to his brother. Kyungsoo kisses the cheek lightly with a smile, and he feels his brother slinging an arm over his shoulders.

He knows his brother is easily too affectionate with his family members; after all, Jonghyun did grow up with two sisters for a while before another set of twins came along, he is the middle child who has no twin.

Letting his arm fall out of Kyungsoo’s shoulders to grab a bowl for the rice, Jonghyun tells Kyungsoo to help set the table as he finishes cooking.

There is a knock on the door. Kyungsoo looks at the clock on the kitchen wall, reading it as 7:30AM. _That must be Chanyeol,_ he thinks as he walks to the door.

But then the brothers hear a click and Kyungsoo realizes that it must be their sisters. Sure enough, Miyoung comes in with a cheerful English “Gooooood Moorrrnnninnn’, you guuyyys!”

Taeyeon raises her eyebrows in mild surprise at her sister’s outburst before frowning. “Ugh, Miyoung-ah, you’re too loud for 7:30AM! We all can hear you just fine.” She chuckles at her eye-smiling sister who is about to hug Kyungsoo.

The eldest twin sister smells and hears the sound of breakfast cooking. “Ohhh, it smells delicious!” She heads over to her brother and nudges him with her elbow. “Jonghyun-ah, what are you cooking for us?”

Jonghyun says proudly, “Bibimbap and kimchi…along with some side dishes from the market last night. Kyungsoo says I’m getting better at this.” Chuckling, he winks at Kyungsoo, who is in Miyoung’s arms, as the youngest smiles and rolls his eyes in amusement.

Miyoung looks around before she jerks her arm a little so her brother can look at her. “Baekhyunnie is still sleeping?”

A shake of head. “He’s taking a sho–”

**_THUD THUD THUD THUD._ **

“ _NOONADEUL_ , I’M HERE!” Baekhyun screams excitedly from the bedroom. Everyone jumps at the sound and hear him coming into the hallway. They watch as he fiddles with the light switch nearby, making a strobe light effect. Jonghyun yells at him, “YAH, STOP MESSING WITH OUR LIGHT SWITCH. WHAT, HAVE I NOT TOLD YOU THAT ENOUGH ALREADY?”

Baekhyun stops and can only giggle at his hyung. The eldest twin sister chuckles at the sight of her brothers and goes to Baekhyun, slinging her arm over his shoulders.

“Baekhyun-ah,” Taeyeon says with an air of humor as they walk to the kitchen/dining area, “you’re getting too old for those strobe light entrances. Yah, you three!” she glares at her younger brother and sister.

“Of all the loud mornings we’ve had, you guys were too loud today. Whining, singing, and shouting, ahooo! _Keep. It. Down._ Jonghyun, yes you,” she chuckles when she sees Jonghyun raising his eyebrows in mock innocence, “Don’t act so innocent! Miyoung and I heard you earlier singing to your own composition. That ‘Oh I’m curious’ line,” she mocks lightly at her brother as he brings the fried rice to the table, sticking his tongue out at her.

Just then, Miyoung looks at the clock on the wall behind the table and gives a start. “Ah! Unnie, we gotta go! It’s already 7:40! We have the staff meeting at 8, ugh, why do we even have these twice a week, why not just once a week? Anyway, Kyungsoo-yah, please save us some, okay?? Thank you~” she rambles, giving each of her brothers a peck on the cheek. Taeyeon gives each of them a hug but also places a kiss on Kyungsoo’s forehead.

“We’ll swing by later tonight! See you guys at school!” Taeyeon informs her twin brothers as she follows her sister out, shutting the door behind them.

The brothers snicker and glance at each other as they move to the table. “Well, shall we eat or wa-“ Jonghyun stops midsentence when they hear a low voice outside, saying “See you later, _seonsaengnimdeul_!” and a knock.

“Hold on!” Baekhyun says, a mixture of casual and happiness in his voice. He opens the door to let his boyfriend inside.

“Ayo waddup, guys? Ah, _annyeonghaseyo, Park Jonghyun-hyungnim…eo…-sshi. Cheoneun Kim Chanyeol-imnida_.” A tall young man with his backpack greets the brothers just as he spots Jonghyun walking over to the table, about to place the bibimbap bowl on the table. Chanyeol immediately stiffly bows to him with the greeting.

Jonghyun smiles and nods in acknowledgment. “Nice to finally meet you, boyfriend of my brother,” he chuckles. “ _Hyungnim_ is fine; come, eat with us!”

“Ah, y-yes, _hyungnim,_ ” Chanyeol gives a short bow of his head, with a smile that causes his right eye to twitch. Taking off his shoes, he puts his backpack near the sofa and joins the Park brothers at the dining table.

After the group sits down, they eat and chat for a while. To Jonghyun, Chanyeol seems to be very energetic one minute and then serious the next. _Baekhyun surely has weird tastes in guys_ , he thinks to himself, _but he seems like an interesting one_.

However, Chanyeol’s bright, outgoing and eccentric personality causes Jonghyun to forget his doubts, and he lets himself be entertained with their new visitor. The tall male can be quite a loud chatter, but he knows his manners when it comes to talking with Kyungsoo around; not too loud to overwhelm the others, but not too soft for Kyungsoo to be unable to hear.

Chanyeol has met Kyungsoo often at the university since the twins get together during their free time outside of their college classes. He is aware of Kyungsoo’s hearing loss because on his first meeting with Baekhyun’s twin two years ago, he caught sight of the hearing aids in Kyungsoo’s ears. Without anyone telling him what should be done, he figured out how to converse with him in the most convenient manner possible. Whenever he approaches Kyungsoo alone, Chanyeol makes it a habit to glance at the other’s ears to check if he is wearing hearing aids or not, and how the conversation should go with accommodations. He glances at Kyungsoo often when it comes to one-on-one or group conversations because, although he has very clear articulation, he does not want the younger twin to miss out, especially in the group conversations.

At the dining table, Kyungsoo alternates looking between everyone’s lips and faces to read their conversations, but he knows, judging by their body language and expressions, when to look away and not get into further conversation. When he feels that what Baekhyun and Chanyeol are about to talk gets a little personal, he can tell by how often they glance at each other and how close their bodies are. When it does get personal between Baekhyun and Chanyeol, he and Jonghyun look away and talk about other things.

Once everyone has eaten breakfast and the boyfriends have had their talk, they glance at their other two dining members with shy smiles. Baekhyun then whispers in Chanyeol’s ear before he brings a hand to turn his boyfriend’s face so he can peck Chanyeol on the lips.

Jonghyun exclaims, “YAH, you guys! Better not start anything at my table!”

Across from Jonghyun, Chanyeol blushes with a guilty look and a tight-lipped smile as he side-eyes Baekhyun. Baekhyun shoots a pointed look at his older brother and nods in acknowledgment. Kyungsoo smiles and points out to Jonghyun, “Hyung, you and Kibum- _hyung_ kiss in the kitchen. Plus, you guys do more than ju-.”

“ _AHEM.”_ Jonghyun clears his throat and his face whirls slowly to Kyungsoo. Slightly miffed, he gives him a warning look that makes Kyungsoo halt his words. He scoffs and explains, “That’s because I’m already out of university, and Kibum’s almost done. You two, well three, are halfway in university. Holding hands, I’m fine with that here at the table but. No. Kissing. Got that?”

Under the table, Chanyeol reaches for Baekhyun’s hand and intertwines their fingers.

Jonghyun notices the slight movement of Chanyeol’s arm towards Baekhyun and he doesn’t fail to catch Baekhyun’s slight blush, and he sighs. “You two are really inseparable, aren’t you? _Aish_ …” Shaking his head, he gets up and gathers the plates as he looks up to the clock in the kitchen. “Yah, you guys, it’s 8:20. You better go to your classes now! I’ll clean up the table. Go go go!”

Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo stand up to leave the dining table and the twins get ready to leave, heading to their bedroom to grab their backpacks. It has not yet registered to Jonghyun how tall Chanyeol is compared to him, as Chanyeol is leaning against the half-wall, until he looks up at him.

“You know, earlier, I didn’t mean to give you the wrong impression that I didn’t like you. Well to be honest, I had my doubts with you but it was funny ‘cause you’re not what I imagined based on Baekhyun’s description. I didn’t think you’d be that… _tall_. But Minho’s tall, too, so…” he shrugs, “this shouldn’t be any different.”

Jonghyun notices how Chanyeol frowns in confusion at the name, and explains. “Minho is Taemin’s boyfriend, and Taemin is the brother of my boyfriend, Kibum. I swear, tall people are just everywhere I go.” He lets out a huff and a chuckle. He misses how Chanyeol’s ears perk up at the names of “Minho”, “Taemin” and “Kibum”. He tries to remember why these names were familiar.

“Anyway, don’t worry about it. You’re alright, and I like how you treat my younger brothers, especially Kyungsoo,” says Jonghyun as he brings the dishes to the sink and goes back to the table to clean up and put away the food for later meals. “He doesn’t really have a lot of friends there, other than Daehyun and Youngjae…but not much.”

Then something clicked in Chanyeol’s mind. Not intentionally ignoring the praise, the taller male gapes at Jonghyun and asks him, “Do…you know Park Jinki?”

Jonghyun has just started washing the dishes when he looks up at Chanyeol warily. “Yes, I know him. He’s my boyfriend’s boss and I’m a friend of him. Why?”

Chanyeol brings his fist to his lips and silently chuckles, with his fist covering his mouth out of respect.

“He is my hyung. So this is the Jonghyun that I’ve been hearing about from my brother,” he then bows deeply. “It’s such an honor to meet you in person! Baekhyun didn’t tell me you work at my brother’s café! This is so cool!!” His voice has gotten louder towards the end of his praises.

Washing the dishes, Jonghyun goggles at Chanyeol. “Seriously?! Wow,” he gives a slightly dubious look. “Although, come to think of it, I didn’t know he has siblings…You don’t look like you’re related to Jinki, though.”

Chanyeol insists, nodding his head. “Oh but we are! I just dyed my hair and there’s the height difference too. I wouldn’t blame you, hahaha. Oh! Here they come.”

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo join in, carrying their backpacks and looking at each other as to what was going on with the loud chatter between their older brother and Chanyeol.

As Jonghyun places the washed dishes on the dish rack, he tells Baekhyun, “Nothing to worry about, Baekhyun-ah. Chanyeol and I were getting more acquainted with each other. Now go go! You guys will be late for class!”

“Bye, hyung!” Kyungsoo goes to Jonghyun to hug him, and warns him to not mess up the stove while they are away at school.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m already cleaning the kitchen right now!” The older brother grins.

“See you later!” Baekhyun waves at Jonghyun and grabs Chanyeol’s hand before leaving out the door. Kyungsoo follows them and shuts the door once outside the apartment. They then walk to school, with Chanyeol talking most of the time, joking around with the brothers. Now and then, Baekhyun goofs around, dancing foolishly, and Kyungsoo just laughs and enjoys their company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you wondering, Jonghyun's singing is from an actual song, called Sherlock. it's...interesting, lol.


	6. Coming Together at a University

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four different groups of people meet up at their university and the day starts off very interestingly for some.

8:40AM

**_Rustle…shuffle…pant…pant…_ **

Never has the crisp morning air felt so right or smelled so fresh for Jongdae.

**_Chatter starts to fill gradually in volume…_ **

Jongdae senses that he and Yixing have arrived at their school entrance gate from the pace slowing down. With one of his arms hooked with one of Yixing’s arms, Jongdae then feels a sudden movement from the side of his backpack as Yixing reaches with his free hand to retrieve Jongdae’s walking stick.

Feeling the bundled object placed in his free hand, Jongdae thanks him as he grips the stick, unfolds it, and starts to sweep the pavement in front of him to feel for his surroundings. He begins to feel the pressure of the crowded area around him, as there are some shoves and pushes from bodies in every direction. Strings of conversations can be heard as the students make their way through the gates and try to find their group of friends.

Zitao is waiting with Luhan, Sehun, Joonmyeon and Jongin at the entrance gate, near the outdoor hallways. Zitao and Joonmyeon scan for their other two friends as the other three have a discussion about their dance routines they had practiced over the weekend. When Zitao spots Yixing and Jongdae, he taps Joonmyeon and Luhan’s shoulders and points to their friends; Luhan then calls out to them.

“Ah, Yixing! Jongdae!” Jongdae makes out a familiar voice calling out to them. “Yah, Yixing! We’re over here!” He feels Yixing giving him a gentle tug and leading him to their group of friends.

“Hello~” Jongdae hears a chorus as he and Yixing slow to a stop, and he can pick up Luhan’s voice as the one closest to him. A bright smile is on his face as he turns to wave at where he assumes Luhan is standing. He raises his stick to loosen it up into a bundle of smaller sticks.

“Morning, Luhan-hyung!” His aim is a little far off, completely facing the airspace on the right side of Luhan.

The said male smiles at that as he reaches and holds Jongdae’s free hand, tugging on it gently to turn to the right a little more so they can face each other. Caressing the back of Jongdae’s hand with his thumb in affection, Luhan notes to Jongdae, “I’m just a little over to the right, Jongdae-yah. Anyway, Zitao’s here with us, and so are Joonmyeon, Jongin and Sehun.”

“Ah, morning! Have you been well over the weekend? Anything exciting happened?” Jongdae asks the trio. Monday, the previous day, had been a school holiday for them, so all the students have had a longer weekend. There are replies from the Kim twins with “Morning hyung!” and “yeah, s’alright.” Jongdae becomes aware of Luhan letting go of his hand and two hands taking over, and there is a gentle hold. He makes them out to be Joonmyeon’s hands, as the hold is something he has associated with his friend. The contact disappears as the owner of these hands gives him a hug.

Joonmyeon ruffles Jongdae’s head. “Nah, Jongdae-yah. We’ve been fine, really.”

“Yeah,” Jongdae hears Jongin’s voice from the right of him. “Sehun and I have a dance audition coming up this term, so we’ve been practicing.”

“I hope you two haven’t exerted yourself too much,” the blind young man worries. “Health is more important…”

“Aw, hyung, you’re sweet, but thank you. We haven’t, so we’re as healthy as can be.”

“That’s good, then,” Jongdae nods in relief before he hears Joonmyeon’s voice again.

“How about you? You and Zitao have a math exam coming up today, mm?” Joonmyeon looks up to see Zitao nodding and Jongdae seeming to fidget in response.

“Ah, y-yeah,” Jongdae stammers a bit. “I…I think I’m confident about the test since I studied over the weekend…I don’t know. I’ve gone over the material twice already. But…”

“But no more worrying about it,” Yixing says. “You’ve studied enough, and you’re gonna do just fine. Just eat some breakfast now and you’re ready to go for the day.”

“Okay okay, but wait, good morning, Tao-yah!” Jongdae cheerfully greets his other friend, turning his head slightly to the right, assuming that he is facing his friend, Zitao, who is standing somewhere in front of him. He feels a pat on his shoulder, sensing it to be Zitao’s hand, before the hand is felt on top of his head. His head gets turned back to original position, and Jongdae can only laugh at his error.

“Oh, hahaha… good morning, Tao-yah!” he repeats giddily. “You doing okay?” He feels the hand drop to his shoulder and there is a gentle squeeze with a couple of soft pats. That was their shared code for Zitao to say yes or something positive in response to any of Jongdae’s questions.

“Good to know! …Wait, were you guys waiting long? Sorry about that, I almost overslept this morning…” There is a slight drop in Jongdae’s excited voice as he sounds concerned that he had been making them wait long.

“Nah, we didn’t wait that long. We just got here a few minutes before you did, actually,” Luhan replies before going into details. “Yixing, Amber and I were gonna pick you up and Zitao this morning, but we ran into Joonmyeon, Jongin, Sehun and Krystal. Because of our group size, we decided to kill two birds with one stone. Yixing decided to pick you up on his own while we got Zitao, and had us meet you two here.

“Krystal, Jinri, Sunyoung and Amber should already be in school right now,” Luhan notes as he checks his watch. “Oh, speaking of which, we best get going to our classes now. Yixing, you coming?”

Yixing, with one of his arms still linked to Jongdae’s arm the whole time, glances at Jongdae and asks, “I…Zhongda, will you be alright eating here with Zitao? Or maybe somewhere closer to your classroom?”

Yixing and Zitao do not miss the slight falter in Jongdae’s smile, the minute twitch of Jongdae’s eyebrow, and the shift of Jongdae’s face to Yixing’s direction. All of that is forgotten immediately when Jongdae regains his smile and nods happily.

Meanwhile, Zitao has looked at Yixing questioningly at that offer. Usually, it has always been Yixing who has been Jongdae’s walking buddy for a long time, whether inside or outside of college, and rarely does Jongdae get to walk with anyone else in school more than once. It will be the first time for Zitao to accompany Jongdae, ever since the two met last year and became friends a few months ago.

“Sure, I don’t mind; but Zitao, we can settle near our classroom so I can have my breakfast, that way we don’t have to hurry,” Jongdae smiles, not really caring where he is facing so long as he directs the message to whomever he wishes. Zitao gets a little nervous regardless of the bright atmosphere.

“Guys, time’s ticking…” Luhan warns with a singsong voice, adding a weak chuckle at the end.

At this, Yixing smiles encouragingly at Zitao and the other nods with a small smile, accepting the decision.

“Thank you, Zitao; I’m glad I can entrust you with the _huge_ responsibility of being Zhongda’s support buddy,” Yixing says jokingly, earning smiles from the group, as he unlinks his arm from Jongdae’s.

“Okay, Tao; where are you?” Jongdae is always too happy in the morning in the company of his friends. He reaches out, searching for Zitao’s calloused yet gentle hand. Once he finds it, he pulls a slightly nervous Zitao close to him and wraps his arm around Zitao’s arm.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine, Tao-yah. We’ll be okay! You’re my eyes, and I’m your mouth.”

Yixing smiles at how Jongdae is easily assertive with the people he is close to. Yixing nods and walks over to his brother, Joonmyeon, and the twins, before lifting his hand to squeeze Jongdae’s shoulder gently.

“Break a leg on your exam, Zhongda! You too, Zitao!”

“Thanks, Xing-hyung. I’ll do my best!”

“ _JIa you, Tao-hyung! Hwaiting, Jongdae-hyung!”_

“Oh yeah, meet us at the café plaza for lunch later today, ‘kay?” Luhan informs the duo.

“Will do!” Jongdae replies back.

Before Joonmyeon sets out on his own path to his class different from the group of brothers, he tells everyone to do well in school and that he will join them at the café plaza as well.

“Shall we go then? I’m starving, hahaha…” Jongdae chortles as he feels the subtle shaking from Zitao’s arm, assuming it to be that his friend is chuckling as well. He then unfolds his walking stick, which had been in his other hand, before they turn to walk through one of the many outdoor hallways of their college campus.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo have arrived at the school gates moments after Yixing and Jongdae, and they walk immediately into Daehyun, Youngjae, Jaebum and Yongguk.

Daehyun spots Kyungsoo and Baekhyun and their friend that he recalls meeting a few times before, and waves to them along with an upward flick of his head. Youngjae says “Hi!” to Baekhyun and Chanyeol, having met Chanyeol a few times; Jaebum also nods his greetings to them.

Youngjae, Jaebum and Baekhyun are classmates in the same year for their Music major, so Jaebum and Youngjae knew Chanyeol for some time. Yongguk smiles and does a gangster greeting with his hand holding up his thumb, forefinger and middle finger, and dramatically moving his hand fast in an up-down motion.

[GOOD-MORNING! WHAT-UP? GOOD SEE-YOU AGAIN TODAY AFTER FINISH LONG WEEKEND!] Daehyun signs to Kyungsoo. _(Good morning, guys! What’s up?? Nice to see you again after the weekend!)_

Meanwhile, there is a drawl from Yongguk. “Aayyyo yo yo guys, what’s going on?” [Y-O, what-up?]

Kyungsoo signs back in response: [GOOD MORNING SAME! YEAH, SAME-YOU-ME! FINE. THIS MORNING RECENT, fs{CHANYEOL} *Kyungsoo points at said companion* FINISH VISIT OUR PLACE EARLY, WHY? MY BROTHER COOK BIG BREAKFAST 4-OF-US EAT++ CONTENT.] _(Good morning to you guys as well! Yeah, it’s nice to see you again! We’re fine; Chanyeol had joined us at our place for breakfast, so my brother cooked up a hearty breakfast.)_

[NICE.] Daehyun nods slowly, impressed. [SEEM YOUR {HYUNG} COOKING IMPROVE FOR YOU-ALL EAT++, q[RIGHT]?] _(Niice…Your brother’s cooking must have improved a lot to do something like that…)_ Kyungsoo inclines his head in reply.

Just then, the two of them are not able to catch Chanyeol mirroring Yongguk’s laidback tone in his reply, “Ayyy, wassup? We good.” He and Yongguk, instead of high-fiving each other, low-five each other. Baekhyun gives Chanyeol a stony look before bursting out in laughter at how ridiculously corny his boyfriend is.

“What? Yongguk here’s a cool guy!”

“Haha, thanks, man. You as well,” Yongguk compliments the younger male.

“But you two were so corny, I’m just saying.”

As everyone greets the others, Daehyun and Kyungsoo sign to each other, which eventually draws the group’s attention.

[HEY, THAT GUY YOUR BROTHER NEXT-TO, ^[THAT q[fs{JAEBUM}]]^?] Kyungsoo questions, as Daehyun looks over briefly to the said male, causing the third male to look back. _(Daehyun, that guy next to your brother, is that Jaebum?)_

[yes, correct. you-two meet ^[q[YET]]^?] A shake of head. [GO-AHEAD INTRODUCE SELF!] _(Yep, that’s him. Wait, you two haven’t met? Go introduce yourself, then!)_

Daehyun smiles upon watching his friend shift his focus onto Jaebum, and then Kyungsoo talks and signs at the same time as he introduces himself. After Kyungsoo’s turn is over, Jaebum hesitates on whether to sign or talk.

 _“Annyeonghaseyo, jeo ireumeun Im Jaebum-imnida…ah, jamkkanman…ah, Jaebum…imnida.”_ {ANNYEONGHASEYO, JEO IREUM fs{IM JOEBUM}}…[wait …oops, fs{JAEBUM}.] Jaebum has an embarrassed face but Kyungsoo can hear that he is chuckling at his own misspelling. _“Mianhaeyo, nae silsu.”_ {MIANHAE, NAE SILSU.}

[HEY.] Daehyun slightly waves to get Kyungsoo’s attention. [INFORM-YOU, *He points at Jaebum* THINK SO-SO not SKILL sign++ HE, FEEL wANT SAME ns{YOUNGJAE} ns{YONGGUK}{HYUNG}. BUT YOU-KNOW-THAT TAKE-UP LONG TIME BECOME FLUENT. WEEK++ few SIGN++ TEACH-HIM. HE Practice++ review many time he. Improve! INFORM-YOU, One time he TRY SING with SIGN.] Daehyun raises his eyebrow at Kyungsoo and briefly looks away with a slight scrunch of his nose and an uncertain face. [NOT BAD, BUT THAT TYPE-OF ASL COMPLETE NEW LEVEL O-F A-S-L, DIFFERENT RULE++, ^[q[RIGHT]]^?] He receives a nod. [ANYWAY, HE STILL learn-learn, THAT ME APPRECIATE.] At this, Daehyun smiles at Jaebum. Jaebum automatically smiles back without fully knowing what is it about him that makes Daehyun happy. _(Kyungsoo, by the way, he thinks he’s not that good with signing, and he feels that he want to be like Youngjae and Yongguk-hyung. But we both know it takes a long time to become fluent with sign language. I teach him some signs on a weekly basis, and he practices a lot. I’m quite impressed with his improvement! Oh yeah, once he tried to sing while signing; if you ask me, it was not so bad. It’s just that it’s another whole level of ASL with different parameters, am I right? But he’s still learning and I really appreciate that.)_

Daehyun and Kyungsoo have been signing in a comfortable pace, but it leaves Jaebum and Chanyeol in an awed daze at how _fast_ they were signing. To them, it seems like the deaf members’ hands are going at least 100 miles per hour and their faces are expressing impossibly so many emotions within one minute. Chanyeol and Jaebum nervously look at each other and chuckle out of embarrassment that they cannot fully understand what is going on and why Kyungsoo and Daehyun seem to be talking about them. Yongguk, Baekhyun and Youngjae catch the two guys’ not-so-subtle actions and quickly interpret for the two, only to hear all three of them start at the same time. They smirk at each other and wordlessly allow Youngjae to interpret for Jaebum and Baekhyun to interpret for Chanyeol.

Meanwhile, the two deaf men are still in their world. [*Daehyun then points to Chanyeol* ^[KNOW SIGN-SIGN, HE?]^] A shake of head. [v[WHY NOT]v?] _(Does Chanyeol know how to sign? Why not?)_

[UP-TO-HIM IF WANT LEARN SIGN++ O-R NOT. MEET FINISH EVER-SINCE, SIGN++ NONE. BUT, OFTEN US-THREE HANG-OUT, HE MAKE-SURE I UNDERSTAND EXCHANGE-WITH-EACH-OTHER. HAPPEN ME, ns{BAEKHYUN}, fs{CHANYEOL}, GROUP-CHAT “HE-GLANCE-AT-ME”++, ENUNCIATE CLEAR ME LIPREAD “OH-I-SEE”. PLUS, HE NOT “SLOW-ENUNCIATE” SILLY. IF ns{BAEKHYUN} NOT WITH US, JOKE I OVERLOOK JOKE O-R CHATTER FLY-BY-ME, US-TWO STEP-OUT HE EXPLAIN-ME. HE PATIENT HE.] _(It’s up to him if he wants to learn sign language or not. Ever since we first met, he hasn’t approached me about it. However, often times when the three of us hang out, he makes sure I understand clearly what’s going on. Like when we have group conversations with people outside of him, me and Baekhyun, he checks up on me to make sure I’m not overwhelmed, and when he speaks, he enunciates clearly for me to read his lips without slowing down and looking ridiculous. And if Bakehyun isn’t with us, and I missed the joke or I feel overwhelmed and lost in the conversation, he takes the time to make side conversation with me so I can catch up. He’s an incredibly patient friend.)_ With a small grin, Kyungsoo takes the moment to look back at his brother and friend, and although he is aware that he and Daehyun have been signing fast for Chanyeol and Jaebum to understand, he knows that Youngjae and Baekhyun have no trouble catching up as they interpret their brothers’ conversation. Chanyeol winks, giving him a grin and a thumb-up gesture.

[“OH-I-SEE”, LUCKY YOU SPEAK WELL CAN. BUT I FINE SIGN++, THAT COMFORTABLE. IF FEEL CAN TRUST PERSON WITHOUT JUDGE-ME, MAYBE VOICE WILL. fs{JAEBUM} ONE O-F THOSE PEOPLE I COMFORTABLE.] _(Oh, that’s cool; you’re lucky you can speak for yourself, but hey, I’m fine with just sign language. If I feel that I can trust a person that doesn’t have any judgment towards me, then I’ll probably use my voice. Jaebum’s one of those people that I’m most comfortable with.)_

When Daehyun has finished signing and Youngjae with translating, Daehyun looks to Jaebum with a smile and Jaebum returns his smile, after hearing from Youngjae that Daehyun praised him for his efforts.

“Thank you” [Thank-you], is all that Jaebum says to Daehyun with a smile.

“Mmm,” Daehyun says happily with a nod.

“Alright, guys, we better get going to class. It’s already 8:50AM. Daehyun-ah, around lunch, we’ll meet you at the university quad, yeah?” [O-k, HEY, MUST LEAVE-FOR class. already TIME 8:50. HEY *Yongguk slightly flaps his hand at his younger friend*, TIME LUNCH, there uniVERSITY quad, GATHER, ^[q[fine-with-you]]^?] Yongguk says to the group, ending in a direct question to Daehyun. Daehyun nods and walks over to join Kyungsoo, Baekhyun and Chanyeol. He and Kyungsoo will be heading to their journalism class while Chanyeol and Baekhyun will go to their seminar discussion class. Yongguk is a grad music student, so he has music theory class first thing in the morning. Youngjae and Jaebum have one general education class together before their music lecture class, and so these three turn around to head to class, looking back momentarily to wave at the Park twins and Chanyeol.

[See you-all later!] _(Later, guys!)_ Daehyun signs to the group and waves at the retreating group. Once the guys have left and are out of sight in the scattered sea of students, Kyungsoo tells his group, “Come on, let’s get to class.” He then leads them to the two buildings that the group is having their classes at.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

**_Shuffle…shuffle…chatter chatter…_ **

Jongdae and Zitao are seated at a bench close to their class in comfortable and companionable silence, with Jongdae eating his breakfast meal. Zitao feels a bit awkward that he cannot speak to Jongdae nor can Jongdae see what he wants to signal to him. When Jongdae finishes eating, he packs his containers away, and realizes just how quiet they have been, in terms of gestural activity. He does not let the awkward atmosphere shroud them and breaks the ice.

“You know, Zitao, you’re the first person other than Yixing to walk with me to class since I started college here. Yixing was the only one who took me to my class before he goes to his class for the past two years. Not that I am resenting you or anything, I don’t mean to make it sound offensive but I really appreciate the fact that you’re doing this anyway.” Jongdae then clears his throat, which signals to Zitao that what he is about to say may be something of a serious matter.

“Tao-yah, we both know the irony of our situation but let’s not dwell on our doubts. Here’s what I’ve thought of: If it’s a yes or no question that I’m asking you, you can reply ‘yes’ by doing this,” — Jongdae takes Zitao’s hand and guides it to do an up-down motion, almost like a head nodding — “and ‘no’ by doing this.” He shakes Zitao’s hand side-to-side, similar to a head shaking.

“If someone is coming to me or if it’s important that I need to be aware of, squeeze my arm gently then guide me safely to where I should be watching out for. If it’s in words longer than ‘yes’ and ‘no’, I’ll try to make the questions seem so that whatever answers you can give me can be described with the gestures of your hands or you can draw or write on my palm. I can quite visualize almost any strokes anyone writes on my palm. How does that sound?” Jongdae asks Zitao with a concerned expression, as he blankets the other’s hand with his, thinking it may have been too much information for the poor young man.

Zitao thinks about it and concludes it to be a great idea. He is about to nod, but realizes that Jongdae cannot see him nodding, so he mentally facepalms himself. He then dips his hand a few times, signaling ‘yes’. Jongdae smiles, “Okay, looks like it’s settled then! Let’s get going to our class, shall we?”

When they get to their classroom, they enter through the front entrance of the classroom, and not the back entrance to avoid a hassle of going through the maze of desks. Zitao then leads Jongdae to the front row of the sea of desks, knowing where his classmate sits. Spotting the sign labeled in Braille ‘Seat for Lee Jongdae’, he takes Jongdae’s hand and places it on the sign, letting the blind man know he has arrived at his seat.

“Thanks, Tao-yah,” Jongdae moves without hesitation to sit down at his desk.

Zitao then pats Jongdae’s shoulder gently before handing Jongdae’s backpack to his owner, and he goes to seat himself in the row behind Jongdae, one seat to the right. Zitao exhales as he prepares his mind for the upcoming Math Exam. He glances at Jongdae who is looking quite content with himself and is waiting for the teacher to come in and distribute the exams.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

**_People are chatting and laughing around, or yelling at each other over some disagreements…_ **

**_The sun peeks down through the trees and there is a cool breeze in the air…_ **

Joonmyeon looks around and breathes the air of a new day of college once again. He makes his way towards his college building when he catches sight of a tall figure with brown hair walking with a shorter guy, hand in hand and two guys next to them signing, oblivious to the stares of many new and current students watching in awe of their signing speed. _Ah, there’s my brother with Baekhyun,_ he observes at the scene in front of him. _That must be Kyungsoo next to him. …Wow, he’s cuter than what I had expected, after hearing from Baekhyun._

_Ah, Jongin though…hm, Jongin might be jealous of him but I think he’ll find him quite endearing._

_…Hmm, I don’t know the other guy. Oh boy, I should try to remember my sign alphabet._ He tests himself with his last name, making letters with his hand, and is able to succeed in remembering it. He smiles to himself as he tries to remember how to sign his first name, but cannot recall anything. Just then, he hears a shout of his name. Joonmyeon looks up to see his brother cupping his mouth as the group stops to watch him.

The group has been walking towards their buildings, Baekhyun hand in hand with Chanyeol once again and Kyungsoo chatting with Daehyun. Suddenly Chanyeol lets out a random shout, giving Kyungsoo and Baekhyun a jolt as they turn to look at Chanyeol. Only Daehyun is unfazed at the shout but he catches Kyungsoo’s quick startled action and notices Chanyeol cupping his mouth to yell at someone.

 _He doesn’t seem mad, it looks like he saw someone_ , thinks Daehyun. _Wonder who it is?_

The answer comes in a form of a person, a male student, coming towards them. Once he has reached the group, Kyungsoo and Daehyun observe that this person must be related to Chanyeol somehow, due to Baekhyun greeting him warmly and Chanyeol hugging him. Kyungsoo looks at the person with a slight questioning look in his eyes, as he has never met the person before. Baekhyun is about to introduce Joonmyeon to Kyungsoo and Daehyun but Joonmyeon stops him, murmuring to him, “Let me try, please.” A little surprised, Baekhyun nods with a grin and steps back with Chanyeol. Joonmyeon then faces a wary Kyungsoo and Daehyun, and signs to them, with the most blessed, angelic, and gentle smile that anyone in the world would be jealous to have.

{ANNYEONGHASEYO, JEO IREUM fs{G-i-m}...} “ _Annyeonghaseyo, jeo ireumeun_ Kim…erm…”, Joonmyeon tries to remember the other letters of the Korean Sign Language alphabet, but he feels so awkward smiling and staring at Daehyun and Kyungsoo, who are staring back innocently, while he is struggling to remember how to spell his name.

“Uh… Joonmyeon.” He quickly yields to speaking, glancing at Baekhyun and back at the two deaf members of his audience, while still maintaining his graceful smile.

{fs{J-U-N-M-YEO-N}} Baekhyun spells the moment the deaf duo looks over at him. The two of them shared “oh” looks of understanding.

“Ugh, I’m sorry I forgot how to spell my name. That’s really embarrassing, haha.” {MIANHAE, NAE IREUM….CHEOLJA… ITJEO BEORYEO.} The older male laughs off his embarrassment, still slightly flustered.

Kyungsoo and Daehyun stare wide-eyed at Joonmyeon partially shocked and partially impressed by his efforts. They did not expect Joonmyeon to sign to them in the first place. Baekhyun reminds Kyungsoo that Joonmyeon is Chanyeol’s brother, a senior majoring in journalism. Realization strikes on Kyungsoo’s head as he remembers with a silent “oh!” and he looks to Joonmyeon with an awed look.

[YOU-BEING {SUNBAE} HEAR-WORD-AROUND. *Kyungsoo points to Chanyeol* TELL-ME ABOUT YOU-BEING, NOW FINALLY MEET, PERFECT!] “So you’re Joonmyeon- _sunbaenim_ that I hear about! Chanyeol told me about you, and now it’s nice to finally meet you!” Kyungsoo signs for Daehyun as he talks to Joonmyeon. “I’m Kyungsoo…” Kyungsoo falters when he fully studies Joonmyeon’s face, and notices how heavenly he looks with the gentle eyes and smile.

Realizing a little too late that he has trailed off, he snaps out of his daze and lets out a soft laugh. He notices that Joonmyeon is looking back at him with a peculiar expression, a hint of another emotion that he cannot decipher.

 _“Ahem.”_ A noise from Daehyun takes Kyungsoo’s attention. Baekhyun and Chanyeol share a secret look behind Kyungsoo’s back.

“Oh right…” Joonmyeon watches Kyungsoo with a glint of humor in his eye as Kyungsoo bows after introducing himself in respect to Joonmyeon. His lips rubbing together in embarrassment and bringing himself back to the present, Kyungsoo continues on, “Err...and this is Daehyun, my friend from a long time ago, back in elementary school. Daehyun, Joonmyeon, he’s Chanyeol’s brother. He’s also majoring in Journalism, but he’s our senior by 2 years,” Kyungsoo talks while signing, looking between Joonmyeon and Daehyun, not leaving either party out of the conversation. After Kyungsoo does the introductions, Joonmyeon looks at Daehyun and the two of them bow to each other.

For no reason, Kyungsoo blurts out, with some signings here and there, “I’m sure you know from Chanyeol that I hear with my hearing aids and I can talk but I also sign as well. Daehyun here is fully deaf, while I’m mostly deaf but I can still hear. Like Baekhyun and I, he has a twin brother who is hearing. We lost touch since elementary school but we just reconnected a few weeks ago…uhm, wow.” When he realizes that he was rambling past the introductions, he flushes red and makes a face at his inner self.

… _Cringing. Totally cringing on the inside, Kyungsoo. Why did you say that out loud?_ Kyungsoo scolds himself.

Daehyun watches his friend with a perplexed face but is smiling tentatively at Joonmyeon because of what just happened. Baekhyun and Chanyeol stare at Kyungsoo with amused expressions, looking at each other with a look of knowing suspicion. Joonmyeon looks politely at Kyungsoo and smiles at him, replying, “Yes, I heard from Chanyeol about you. I’m surprised you’re quite the talker; he told me that you’re usually shy. Did I not hear you wrong, Chanyeol-ah?”

Chanyeol looks at Joonmyeon with an innocent look and casts side-glances to no one in particular as an answer. “Hm? Uhm, no, you heard me right, hyung. But he will talk more once he gets closer to people. Although, this is the first time that Kyungsoo acts this way to someone he just met. Maybe it’s your senior status, eh? Or maybe…he- oof!” He grunts as Baekhyun elbows him with a warning look and a devious smile, shutting him up.

Kyungsoo watches the whole thing with his wide-eyed owl look, not sure exactly what is going on. When Chanyeol announces that Kyungsoo talks more when he gets closer to the person, he blinks and questions himself. _Well that’s true, I am aware I do that but this is Joonmyeon-sunbaenim…whichever that we’re talking about. I had just met him in person, why am I rambling upon our first meeting?_

Daehyun senses the awkward tension and waves to Kyungsoo to start interpreting what he wanted to tell Joonmyeon before Kyungsoo had rambled.

[I…US-TWO watch YOU sign RECENT, WE shocK, Impressed your efforts, wow. No need embarrass. Good job try, {SUNBAE}.] Nodding with an eye-smile, Daehyun signs to Joonmyeon while Kyungsoo nervously voices for him, watching Daehyun without blinking. “W-what you did just now…we were quite shocked. We were impressed, actually. Don’t feel embarrassed, hy- ah er… _sunbaenim_. …Oh, you did good with your efforts… I mean… Good job, with your efforts…Or try, really. Good job for trying… _sunbaenim_.”

Joonmyeon chuckles and tells them, although he was looking at Kyungsoo most of the time, “You guys don’t have to call me _sunbaenim_ when it’s just us outside of our classrooms here. Call me Joonmyeon- _hyung_ , ok?” He sticks out a hand for a handshake.

“Er…okay,” Kyungsoo is quick to react, letting the other take in his hand and they shake for a moment. Except, the younger male is a little distracted with how genuine the older male is, and he forgets that they are still holding hands. He is not oblivious to how there is a slight graze of the other’s thumb on his hand.

“Let’s get going, shall we??” Chanyeol exclaims, snapping the two males out of their eye contact. Kyungsoo quickly withdraws his hand, but not a moment later does he get a nudge and mischievous wink from Daehyun. [Fsh.] _(Quit it, Daehyun.)_ He shoots a mocking glare at his friend.

“Yes, let’s,” Joonmyeon agrees heartily.

As the group walks to the College of Letters, Arts and Social Science, Baekhyun sighs before he communicates with the group, “All of us really should get to class, it’s almost 9AM already. Don’t wanna be late! Joonmyeon- _hyung_ , you mind keeping them company to their class?” He receives a nod.

“Thanks! Kyungsoo-yah, Daehyun-ah, learn from Joonmyeon-hyung! Ask him for advice; he’ll help you out! See you later, guys!” With a wink to Kyungsoo, he and Chanyeol rush to the College of Philosophy for their discussion seminar class. Kyungsoo wonders what that was all about with Baekhyun winking at him, but he shrugs it off and follows Daehyun and Joonmyeon.

Joonmyeon then leads Daehyun and Kyungsoo to their classroom building, opening the door for his juniors. Daehyun enters first, and when it is Kyungsoo’s turn to enter the building, Kyungsoo gestures at Joonmyeon to go in. Joonmyeon looks at him with a soft gaze and reminds him, “I’m your senior, Kyungsoo-yah.”

Kyungsoo stares meekly at him and yields, entering through the door. However, he does not miss the subtle touch of a hand on his lower back, guiding him into the building, as he passes by Joonmyeon. He peeks a furtive glance at Joonmyeon, and is a little startled to see Joonmyeon walking next to him, side by side, looking straight ahead. He feels Joonmyeon’s hand still on his lower back. Joonmyeon feels Kyungsoo’s stare from the side, so he turns to look at him with questioning eyes, but Kyungsoo quickly looks straight ahead.

Daehyun remains oblivious to what was going on behind his back as they walk down the hallway. But when he finds the classroom that he and Kyungsoo are supposed to be in, and he turns around to inform Joonmyeon and Kyungsoo, he does not fail to catch the sight of Joonmyeon’s arm placed somewhere behind Kyungsoo. He figures it to be brotherly affection, since Joonmyeon is Chanyeol’s hyung, Chanyeol is close to Baekhyun and perhaps to Kyungsoo as well, so Joonmyeon might be showing some kind of urge to get close to Kyungsoo. _Something like A is to B, as B is to C and maybe to D; thus A is to C and possibly D. What did they call it in math, a Transitive Property of Congruency…but in this case, of Affection, maybe?_ Daehyun thinks.

When it is time for Joonmyeon to leave for his class, he walks up to Daehyun and says something to him, with a few hand motions, hoping Daehyun can understand him.

Daehyun reads Joonmyeon’s lips when he says, “Take care, Daehyun-ah, and I hope we can be closer from now on!”, and replies back with {GOMAPDA, J-M-SUNBAE} bowing afterwards.

Joonmyeon pats Daehyun’s hair in affection, before lowering his hand from Daehyun as he turns to Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo, though he has a faint blush, tries to pretend that he is not embarrassed by Joonmyeon’s act from earlier. Joonmyeon chuckles and reaches out a paper and pen from his backpack. He writes something on it and passes it to Kyungsoo, telling him, “Kyungsoo-yah, it was nice to finally meet you after hearing so much from my younger brother. I have a feeling we’ll be getting close this year. If you need any help, you know where to reach me, at this number and email.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes bulge at the torn piece of paper that had Joonmyeon’s contact info and he looks up at him, a light-red tint creeping on his face. “Yes, _sunbaenim_ ,” he says with a bow and, not looking up, receives the paper before rising back up and looking down at the note.

“I have unlimited texting, so don’t worry about texting me often if you feel the need. Do well in your classes and again, don’t hesitate to contact me, okay?”

“Okay…” Kyungsoo nods shyly.

 _Aw, Kyungsoo looks shy. Perhaps there is something about to happen between the two,_ Daehyun thinks to himself with a small look of happiness on his face. Joonmyeon then lifts his hand to ruffle Kyungsoo’s hair and fixes it, before lowering his hand to cup the back of Kyungsoo’s neck, his thumb stroking the back of Kyungsoo’s head. Kyungsoo squeaks a little bit and he starts to tense up, but his body subconsciously relaxes under the grazing of Joonmyeon’s thumb.

Joonmyeon grins at him and remarks, “Yah, relax, Kyungsoo-yah, relax. Haha, you’re so cute when you blush. Well, see you around, _hoobae_.” He then drops his hand from Kyungsoo and makes his way to his classroom on the second floor.

Putting the note away in his sling bag, Kyungsoo looks at Daehyun, who looks back with a smug grin on his face. [He. Like. You. Hey, just finish meet-you. Think strange. My card phone number give-you. Contact-me maybe?] _(He. Likes. You. Hey, I just met you and this is crazy. But here’s my number, so call me maybe?)_ Daehyun laughs when Kyungsoo shoves his arms to stop seeing these overrated lines of Carly Rae Jepsen’s _Call Me Maybe_ that Kyungsoo has been hearing around, especially on the radio. He then opens the door to let Kyungsoo in and follows him into the classroom.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Youngjae and Jaebum start talking about their Starcraft activities when Yongguk scolds them, “Yahh~ you guys. Don’t tell me you procrastinated your homework projects for Starcraft. You punks!” He gives the boys an intimidating glare so deadly it causes Jaebum to look away and cower, but it does not faze Youngjae.

“No, Yongguk-hyung, as if we would neglect our homework for computer gaming on a daily basis to the point where we would be like those gamers who consider their computers their only best friends,” answers Youngjae with heavy sarcasm and a deadpanned look. “Honestly, hyung, what do you take us for?”

“Aish… the nerve of this guy,” Yongguk bristles with a slight of annoyance. “Anyway, there’s your class building, you guys go on ahead, I’ll be making a left here to get to my music theory class. Behave, you guys.” He walks backward, holding his backpack on one shoulder and giving a pointed stare at his younger friends. Jaebum twitches his pursed lips in slight fear and looks at Youngjae. “Shall we get going, Youngjae-yah?”

“Yeah, we should,” Youngjae sighs. “Let’s go, _chingu_.” With their laptop bags slung over their shoulders, they walk towards their building.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Yongguk has just barely entered the classroom when the bell rings, signaling to be 9AM promptly. He lets out a sigh of relief, and makes his way down to an empty seat in the mini-amphitheater lecture hall. Once he has sat down, he takes out his notebook and pen from his backpack, and flips his notebook open to a fresh page. Just then, the professor enters the hall and greets the class. He takes out a remote from the inner pocket of his jacket and presses a button.

Music starts playing, and it fills the lecture hall with a gloomy mood and suddenly there are sharp, intermittent noises of drums. It is as if a dramatic music is cued for doom upon the students in the classroom.

The musical tunes are unfamiliar to Yongguk. _What the hell is this crap, this isn’t music. Damn, these instruments are too much for my ears. All this plucking, trills, drums beating, what in the actual hell is this music?_ Yongguk shifts in his seat, clearly uncomfortable to this. He peeks around, satisfied that he is not the only one, as there are other students who are, like him, bothered by the different style of music that the professor is playing for them. Yongguk recalls the past few weeks when the professor would start the classes with nothing but music, music Yongguk and most of the class are not used to, and he would question the class what they suggest is the musical style of the recorded piece. _What is he, some kind of sadistic harmoniaphile, or whatever it is that you call people who love music to a point where torturing students is a pleasure for them. Ugh…_

As soon as Yongguk finishes his thought, the professor stops the music. “Now, who, among you all, can tell me what style this music is performed and which instruments are being played here?”

Silence fills the classroom, and not a single hand is raised. Suddenly, one reply creeps in to break the silence.

“It is simply a traditional music, professor, that we have just heard. The instruments are _Janggu_ , a hourglass-shaped drum; _Daegeum_ , a flute; and _Bipa_ , or rather I should say _Hyang-bipa_ , a 5-stringed lute.”

Heads start turning to the source of the low voice and everyone starts to focus around a particular region somewhere in the lower front. No one recognizes the voice before, and Yongguk catches sight of a few students whispering to each other and nodding. They seem to be praising the student’s musical knowledge because they keep looking back and forth between the student and their friends. It is the first time in weeks that only one reply could be heard; in the past few weeks since school started, most students were familiar with the different musical genres that the professor played, answering in varying sizes of groups or one whole classroom, except today. Yongguk hears the voice and thinks it to be of an egoistic student. He cranes his neck to look forward and down to where the students are looking. All he can make out is a short-cropped black hair. _Tsch, obviously it’s a male,_ Yongguk grumbles inwardly.

The professor seems to be taken aback with the curt yet precise response. “Quite correct you are. How, may I ask, do you come to know of this, Mr…?”

The voice replies, “My name’s Kim Himchan, Professor.” Yongguk sees the said male stand up and bow to the professor. He mocks to himself, imitating Himchan’s formal introduction with a face, “Kim. Him. Chan. _Imnida_. _Gyosoo-nim_.” Leaning back on his chair with his elbow resting on the desk, his hand supporting the side of his face, Yongguk glares at the back of the head of the student who had bowed.

Himchan then continues, “You see, sir, I’ve been playing the _janggu_ for a long time, and I was raised embracing the traditional music in my family. The _hyang-bipa_ and _daegeum_ are among the instruments my family own, along with the _pyeongjong_ , _sogeum_ , and _gayageum_. I recognized the sound qualities of the instruments.” Murmurs and whispers fill the auditorium as the students lean close to each other, in awe with this student’s knowledge, unfamiliar with the strange foreign names that come out of Himchan’s mouth.

Just then, all in a matter of seconds, a weird feeling passes through Yongguk’s body when said Himchan turns around and seems to be looking straight at Yongguk for a while. Yongguk looks back trying not to feel threatened by the student’s gaze, but he feels that his defenses are about to crumble. _What, is he looking at me, or something?_ Yongguk thinks to himself. He raises his eyebrow in a blunt manner, and Himchan wordlessly replies back with a smirk and a wink. Yongguk frowns automatically at the sight and sits up to study him a little more, but Himchan has turned around to sit down. Thrown off-guard, Yongguk leans back again and starts paying attention to his professor, lecturing about the history of traditional music and the roles of musical instruments. Between writing notes and following what the professor is writing and lecturing on the board, Yongguk cannot help but throw glances at Himchan, but all he sees is just the back of Himchan’s head.

 _This is gonna be interesting,_ Yongguk thinks to himself. _No one plays me like that, princess. We’ll see how you’ll put up with me. Kim Himchan, better watch yourself._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Annyeonghaseyo, jeo ireumeun Im Jaebum-imnida…ah, jamkkanman…ah, Jaebum…imnida. [...] Mianhaeyo, nae silsu." = "Hello, my name is Im Jaebum...ah wait...ah...Jaebum. Sorry, my mistake."


	7. Literature Appreciation Class with Deaf Etiquette on the side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyungsoo and Daehyun work together with two classmates, and educates them briefly on Deaf/Hard of Hearing etiquette in a classroom setting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You will notice some Upper Case sentences are minimized and some are in regular font; the minimized shows that the signing has become more personal and private, whereas the regular shows that it has become more open and public. This is where the sign frame is introduced as a concept.
> 
> Also, when the person is signing, if they are not voicing but mouthing words, it will be expressed between .

When Kyungsoo and Daehyun enter the classroom, it takes a few seconds to reach their seats in the front row. The room is almost at full capacity of students. Individual desks are laid out in a clean manner leaving aisles between them. Considering it is a Tuesday morning after a three-day weekend, there are still some college students who have yet to show up.

Daehyun taps Kyungsoo’s shoulder to get his attention, noticing how his friend is still distracted by the events that happened earlier. Once Kyungsoo looks over, Daehyun furrows his eyebrows and shakes his head.

[“What-WRONG” THINK fs{J-M} {SUNBAE} like you? *Daehyun shakes head again* embarrass not…] There is a glint in his eyes. [wait… ^[q[you SAME him]]^??] _(What’s wrong with the idea of Joonmyeon-sunbaenim liking you? There’s no need to feel embarrassed…unless you like him too?)_

Daehyun softly chuckles as Kyungsoo looks on helplessly at the first question. After the second question, seeing how Kyungsoo makes no action to deny anything and his friend’s eyes widening before the eye contact is broken, Daehyun’s smile falters when he puts two and two together. He then places a hand on Kyungsoo’s shoulder, and signs with one hand to Kyungsoo. [Wait wait, ^[Serious?]^ You like him ^[q[real]]^?] _(Hold on…are you serious? You’re attracted to him?)_

There is a faint nod, too subtle of a reaction that is not quick enough to escape the deaf male’s vision.

Daehyun takes his hand off Kyungsoo’s shoulder, looking amused. Kyungsoo looks back once more.

[I REMEMBER RECENT, You blurt-mess front o-f fs{SUNBAE}. BEFORE Never see you same that. now Understand, “oh-i-see”.] Daehyun smiles as he signs the next line in with air of bravado. _(See earlier, you were rambling in front of Joonmyeon. Don’t think I’ve ever seen you like that. But of course, it all makes sense now.)_

<Kyungsoo in love.> [ns{KYUNGSOO} IN L-O-V-E.] _(Park Kyungsoo is in love~)_

The other male blushes and looks away, taking the time to search in his backpack for something. Daehyun’s eyes crinkle in amusement. As Daehyun does so, he notices some students blatantly staring, with mixed reactions of awe or judging, or glancing at his noiseless monologue. During the last couple weeks, the classroom has gotten used to their deaf classmates’ noiseless conversations before the start of class. Daehyun continues to smile at them, nonplussed with their gazes.

Kyungsoo has taken out his Frequency Modulation system microphone, or FM microphone for short, from his backpack. The microphone is given to teachers so that when they talk, their voices are amplified in Kyungsoo’s hearing aids. All the students hear the teachers at normal volume, but Kyungsoo can hear the teachers with such loud clarity that wherever the teacher is in the room lecturing, it seems as if the teacher is next to Kyungsoo, talking to him the whole time. He gets up and walks to the teacher’s speech pedestal and places his microphone on top of it. He returns to his seat, looking at Daehyun with a slight look of apprehension on his face but the faint blush on his face betrays his skeptical feelings.

Sitting down, Kyungsoo brings his hands up.

[GUESS TRUE? FEEL THAT EVER-SINCE, NEVER ME. RECENT MEET! ^[THINK RUSH?]v *Kyungsoo shakes his head* NOT REALIZE ME STARE, REACTION NON-] Kyungsoo spots a female with dirty blonde hair entering the classroom. [NONE. ns{HYOYEON} COME-TO-US. LATER]. _(I guess? I’ve never felt like that before. I mean, we just met! Don’t you think this is a bit rushed? I didn’t even realize I was staring at him without any quick react-… reaction. Hyoyeon is coming. We’ll talk about this later.)_

The interpreter named Hyoyeon has a short height and a good build. She then greets Daehyun and Kyungsoo soundlessly with her mouth forming the words, giving away her bright personality.

<Hello! Good mo!> [Hello YOU-TWO! gOOD morning!] _(Hey there, good morning!)_ Kyungsoo and Daehyun repeat the same greeting back to her.

<Doojoon come, lil’ rush… your sis soon, saw…staff room.> [inform-YOU, ns{DOOJOON} come. HUrry.] ( _Doojoon is coming, just so you know. He’s in a little rush.)_ She receives nods from her clients as she reaches for a chair that is chained to the table in front of the classroom. [YOUR SISTER COME SOON, RECENT “PASS-HER” THERE-OUTSIDE STAFF ROOM.] ( _Your sister is on her way here. I just saw her standing outside the staff room.)_

Kyungsoo nods. [O-k, “thank-YOU”.] _(O_ _k, thank you.)_ Hyoyeon gives him a thumb-up.

Once the chair is unlocked, Hyoyeon pulls it to place in front of Kyungsoo and Daehyun at a certain distance. She looks at them with a smile as she sits down, her cheeks emphasizing the curvature of her face. Kim Hyoyeon can pass for a foreigner, but there is a fair amount of Korean features in her.

She continues on. [Recent weekend ^q[good]^? Nice FEW DAYS vacation. ^[anything interesting HAPPEN]^, “what-up”?] _(Did you have a good weekend? Quite nice we had that three-day weekend off. Has there been anything interesting going on lately?)_

The two males look at each other before nodding casually. Kyungsoo is the first to sign, looking back at Hyoyeon. [Weekend good, yeah… study, “ET-CETERA”]. _(We had a good weekend, yeah. Studying and whatnot.)_

Kyungsoo and Hyoyeon look at Daehyun, only to find him giving Kyungsoo a knowing look and a smirk. Seeing that his friend and their interpreter are expecting him to say something, Daehyun spills the beans to Hyoyeon about a phone number Kyungsoo got from a male senior, adding in a wink.

Hyoyeon reacts in soundless gleeful surprise, with her jaw dropped, her eyes wide, and her eyebrows shot up high. She looks at Kyungsoo just as he starts to redden before closing her mouth.

[v[1) WHO? 2) WHEN? 3) WHERE? 4) HOW?]v “COME-ON”, STORY. “COME-ON”. *She makes a pose of listening attentively, with her chin resting on her fist.*] _(Who is he? When was this? Where did you two meet? How did this come about? Come on, give me the deets.)_

Her ecstatic yet muted and closed-lips reaction draws attention from some students, who are now watching the three of them. Some are whispering to each other, wondering what is going on to make the woman look so thrilled. Hyoyeon looks back at Daehyun, asking for more information. Daehyun laughs and goes on about events that happened this morning with Joonmyeon and Kyungsoo’s reactions upon meeting him.

<But…Just met! Maybe my brother and boyfriend both about me…same me…but…no!> Kyungsoo adds in indignantly. [But feel fast PROGRESS. recent MEET! sure, maybe MY BROTHER his boyfriend TWO-OF-THEM EXPLAIN-HIM about me “et-cetera” EXPLAIN-ME about him “et-cetera”, but FALL-IN-LOVE? NOT-YET! NO!] _(But, I feel like this is going too fast!! I mean, we just met! Sure, his brother and my brother may have told him things about me, and so have they told me about him, but it’s too soon to develop feelings at this point!)_

Hyoyeon coos at Kyungsoo as she places a hand over her chest, [cute, REALLY sweet! *She then glances at the door* OH, TEACHER DOOR. AND SEE D-J] _(Aww, you’re so cute but it seems so sweet! Oops, the teacher is at the door. And Doojoon is here.)._

Just then, Miyoung and Doojoon enter through the door. Doojoon goes to sit down next to Daehyun, greeting his deaf students and his teammate. [GOOD MORNING, how you-all? Whoa, ns{Kyungsoo}, sunrise shine-on-you “red-face” YOU.] _(Good morning to you guys, how are you all? Whoa, Kyungsoo, the sun must’ve rose and focused its rays on you for too long, because you’re looking red.)_ Yoon Doojoon is a man of words and wit; he has quite a nice yet charismatic personality, and is a very approachable and fun person. He goofs off with his deaf clients every now and then, especially during boring lectures, to keep them attentive. Noticing the smirk on his interpreter’s face, Kyungsoo closes his eyes as he facepalms himself, his face scrunching in embarrassment of said blush. He wills the blush to go away, not seeing that Daehyun is filling in Doojoon briefly on what he told Hyoyeon.

Hyoyeon readies herself into interpreter mode after she waves to her friend, Miyoung, the professor of the classroom and Kyungsoo’s older sister. Park Miyoung is one of the teachers for the Literature Appreciation class. Kyungsoo watches as his sister walks to the pedestal, putting her teacher bag on the computer desk. Once she has her materials out and ready, she returns to the pedestal, picks up the microphone, and clips it onto her clothes. Miyoung glances at her brother, gently tapping the receiver intermittently. She waits for the “blink once” signal that he can hear her once the microphone activates the connection to his hearing aids. It does not take long as Kyungsoo blinks once slowly at his sister before looking at Hyoyeon.

“Okay, class, good morning! Hope you all had a good weekend. And that none of you forgot to do the readings?” She addresses to the whole classroom, one of her eyebrows arched. “Anyone understood the chapters of Dante’s _Inferno_ so far?”

Amidst the soft murmurs from the classroom, only Daehyun and Kyungsoo nod, but then Kyungsoo hears two voices, a shy female and male, replying at the same time. The female voice saying “Erm…yes, Professor Park. I’ve read it,” but it is overlapped with a male voice saying, “I’ve read the assignment but honestly, the descriptions of Hell is a bit too bizarre for me to understand. I get what the Circles of Hell are named for and the sceneries that are described there, but I’m not quite sure as to what Dante’s intentions are with the order of sins in accordance to the descent.”

Meanwhile, Hyoyeon scans the classroom to look for the two students who are replying. Once she finds them, she describes them for Kyungsoo and Daehyun to see who is talking before indicating where they are. The deaf students glance behind them to find a girl who looks very mature, emitting an aura of a prim and dignified nature, along with a guy who looks very wise and genuine with his handsome features. He has soft eyes and dimples, while the girl has a natural looking, pretty face with a nice set of eyes.

Both Daehyun and Kyungsoo recognize them as Kim Dasom and Gong Chansik. The said male and female glance back at them and give small waves. The deaf friends simply nod warmly before looking back at their interpreter.

The four of them have not really made a lot of conversations since their term started, simply being acquaintances and making short talks. When the two deaf friends first met them, their classmates gave off an impression of having a gentle and urbane nature.

Kyungsoo glances at his sister, Miyoung, who is nodding in understanding, and then later, asking the female to continue. The girl picks up from where she left off, “I sort of understand what is going on with Dante and his journey down to the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Circles of Hell. However, I’m confused first as to what was going on exactly in the Fifth Circle; Is Virgil blessing Dante or Argenti?”

“Hmm, that is a good question. Take note of this, class, because some of you will be giving us your thoughts on that observation,” Miyoung warns her classroom. “So it seems that everyone is confused as to what is going on with those circles of Hell, am I correct? Is that why no one responded earlier?” Miyoung asks. Immediately she sees a lot of people nodding, and hears mumbled “yes”s and “confused as hell”s. She chuckles before announcing that she will do the roll call before they get to the lesson.

For the next fifteen minutes, once the roll call is over, Miyoung then talks with the class and reviews with them the past chapters they have read for their previous assignments. The class finally has understood the consistent themes between their previous and current assignment readings.

“Okay, class. I will divide you into groups of four. For the next forty-five minutes,” Miyoung eyes the clock as she instructs the class, “I will give each of your group a strip of paper with a random number, and on it you will find the assigned verses. You will also be given overhead markers and a plastic paper to draw or write your interpretations of these assigned verses today. We will have you guys present your thoughts towards the end of class. Now let me count so you all can meet with your group.” 

When she finishes counting, there are rustling and scrambling as the students move to group up with their members of same numbers. Chanshik and Dasom end up joining Daehyun and Kyungsoo up front. Kyungsoo and Daehyun rotate their desks 180 degrees, getting a full panoramic view of the classroom, just as Dasom brings her seat a little forward and Chanshik stays in his spot with his desk, now all of them forming a circle. Hyoyeon sits slightly outside of the circle across from Kyungsoo and Daehyun, between Chanshik and Dasom, while Doojoon still remains to be outside of the circle.

Doojoon then takes over Hyoyeon’s role as interpreter **,** exchanging shifts, and waits for the group to get comfortable and ready to discuss their part. There is a loud storm of chatter and laughing among the groups already, and Miyoung walks around the room distributing the strips of paper. Kyungsoo’s group is the second to get the strip of paper. Chanshik and Dasom glance at each other before glancing at Daehyun and Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo looks at the paper and shows it to Daehyun before passing it to Dasom and Chanshik. The paper read that they would be focusing on the second half of the Fifth Circle of Hell, which ironically is the one that Dasom is confused about. The group does not start off with the group activity but with curious questions.

**_Loud chatter immediately fills Kyungsoo’s ears…_ **

“Hi, uh…Daehyun, right? And Kyungsoo?” Chanshik inclines his head towards his deaf classmates, addressing them in order, as Dasom glances between the three of them.

**_Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Doojoon interpreting for both him and Daehyun what Chanshik says._ **

Kyungsoo resorts to reading his classmate’s lips, and is quick to reply back with a smile, “Yes, that’s correct. You’re Chanshik and you’re Dasom.”

“Ah, yeah, haha,” Chanshik smiles, obviously relieved. He side-eyes Doojoon and Hyoyeon, before he continues on. “So…uh…how do we do this?”

^[DO-DO?]v Doojoon signs.

Both Daehyun and Kyungsoo realize in an instant that this is the first time they are working in groups, for they have been working as partners in the previous weeks. They look at each other and Kyungsoo lets Daehyun do the honors of explaining.

[fs[WELL] FIRST, ^[INTERACTION?]^ DIRECT-TO-ME-AND-HIM *He indicates to his friend before giving a smirk and shaking his head* NOT DIRECT-TO-INTERPRETER. ^[WHY?]^ RUDE. *He adds with a small nod before he puts on a serious face* PERIOD. fs{KYUNGSOO} LIPREAD CAN HE, I SOMETIMES I, fs[SO] MUST CLEAR ENUNCIATE. UNDERSTAND, NOT MEAN ENUNCIATE, JUST TALK REGULAR. INTERPRETER STILL HAVE, CAN RELAY-INFORMATION-TO-US BUT BEST fs[TOOL] FOR US WHAT? EYES.]

“Okay, well first of all, when it comes to talking, talk only to me and Kyungsoo. Never to the interpreter, because it’s considered rude. Really. Kyungsoo can read lips though, sometimes I can, so you two need to enunciate clearly. It doesn’t mean that you need to talk so slow…just talk comfortably. We still have our interpreter to relay the information, which makes our eyes the best tools that we have.”

Upon hearing the male interpreter’s voice after watching Daehyun sign, Dasom and Chanshik express looks of understanding as they look at each other before focusing their attention at Doojoon.

“Er…” Chanshik says weakly, looking between Daehyun and Doojoon. “So we don’t…talk to you, the interpreter, ever…?”

“That feels kind of rude…” Dasom meekly says.

Doojoon interprets their lines, mirroring their classmates’ expressions, before he looks questioningly at his clients.

[GO-AHEAD EXPLAIN, ^[WANT?]^] Daehyun signs. _(You can explain if you like…)_

[fs[OK].] Doojoon answers then with an apologetic smile. “I’m afraid so; our roles as interpreters are to convey the messages between both parties.” [SORRY, INTERPRETER ROLE WHAT? CONVEY-TWO-SIDES]

“Yep,” says Kyungsoo, backing his interpreter up, and he looks uncertain while doing so. “They are not really a part of our group, they are just our interpreters,” he speaks a little louder so he can be heard over the noisy classroom. Doojoon and Hyoyeon look back at him with unfazed faces, nodding in encouragement. [TWO-OF-THEM, NOT REALLY INVOLVE, SEPARATE GIVE-US-INFORMATION.]

“It’s just that they can’t participate or get involved directly with communication between students. They simply have one objective, as Doojoon said: to convey the message between two parties. It might sound harsh, but think of them as voiceovers, or that they like to be ‘anonymous’, if you will.” He feels uncomfortable after saying that, but when Hyoyeon gives him a small smile and a nod, and Doojoon nods at him in agreement, Kyungsoo feels reassured. [REALLY SHOULD NOT PARTICIPATE FOUR-OF-US INTERACTION. ONE GOAL SAME HE SAY, QUOTE CONVEY-TWO-SIDES. SOUND MEAN, BUT THINK THEM LIKE BACKGROUND VOICE…fs[OR] SECRET MASK.]

Both Dasom and Chanshik still look confused, and Dasom starts, “But…they’re here. We can see them.”

Kyungsoo smiles. With Daehyun watching him, he continues to sign and talk at the same time, “It’s not like that. You see, when you talk to us, it’s necessary and _preferred_ ,” he emphasizes on the word, “that you look at us a lot more often than at the interpreter. After all, we are the ones that need to know what you guys are saying, not them. It’s rather rude if you face the interpreter while talking because one, they will feel uncomfortable being brought to attention, and two, Daehyun and I may think that it is not for us to know when we see that you are not looking at us directly _even though_ it really is meant for us. When you talk with us, you look at us; that’s all there is to it. Like what Daehyun said, we’re visual people, we have quite skilled and keen eyes.  We easily look between you and the interpreters so we can understand what is going on. Plus, you guys have ears to hear, and you don’t always have to look at people to hear what they’re saying, right? It’s not the case for me and Daehyun.”

Dasom nods, understanding the whole situation.

**_Noiseless chatter and students bustling in their seats…they seem to talk about things other than Dante’s_ Inferno _._**

**_Chanshik looks slightly impressed at Kyungsoo’s explanation. No sounds come from Chanshik’s mouth as he looks at Daehyun and says something._ **

“Wait, when you sign with your hands, _he_ is actually talking for you?” Chanshik asks Daehyun directly, but he nods his head towards Doojoon’s direction when he says the last sentence with emphasis on the “ _he_ ”.

Soon after Chanshik starts talking, Daehyun eyes Doojoon who interprets the question, glancing back when the hearing male does the aforementioned head gesture. He nods in response. [YES, HE VOICE FOR ME. UNDERSTAND, NOTICE HAPPEN SIGN POINT-MYSELF HE SAY ‘I’ ‘ME’, HAPPEN I POINT-HIM ‘HIM’ ‘HE’.] Daehyun shifts his body to the left, relatively closer to Doojoon. [Perspective *He then shakes his head before shifting his body back to his original position* perspective-self, different intention. Interpreter voice DEAF, HEARING SIGN.]

Doojoon speaks up the moment Daehyun starts signing, “Yes, he voices for me. Notice how when I’m pointing at myself, he says ‘I’ and ‘me’, and when I point to him, he says ‘he’ and ‘him’. Understand that he isn’t talking from his point of view, but he is talking for me from _my_ point of view. Interpreters are the voices for the deaf student, in this case, and the hands for the hearing student.”

Kyungsoo nods and says, “What Daehyun said pretty much tops off the whole discussion,” when he sees Chanshik mouthing “oh!” fully grasping the concept of deaf communication.

Just then, a whisper fills up Kyungsoo’s hearing aids before he realizes it is his sister’s voice from the microphone. _“What are you doing?”_

He catches his sister’s gaze on him and her raising an eyebrow as to why Kyungsoo and his group have not started working on the activity. He peers around and notices that every group have already gotten down to business, huddling together and acting out lines from their texts. He looks back at his sister and sheepishly grins, before looking back to his group. She shakes her head, amused at her brother’s reaction.

Daehyun is quick to notice the shift in Kyungsoo’s attention, and expresses wordlessly his inquiry. His friend replies in the same manner with only one sign: [TEACHER {NOONA}.]

“Er, guys, we should probably get started on the class activity.” Dasom and Chanshik have expressions of amused realization before they chuckle. “Five minutes passed already. We have our books, right?” The three group members nod at Kyungsoo as they retrieve their books from their bags. “Okay, why don’t we go ahead and tackle this strip of paper, we can talk more about ourselves afterwards.”

For the next twenty-five minutes, the members discuss their assigned verse, and clarify the chapter plot since some members could not understand it from reading solo over the weekend. Dasom was floored that she finally gets it when Daehyun and Kyungsoo explained it with their hands. She could make out a picture from their hands and was able to make the connection of the fifth circle of Hell, which was Anger. When it is time to talk about how to present their thoughts to the classroom, Daehyun and Dasom volunteer to write, and Chanshik offers to draw for them.

Whenever Dasom talks and writes at the same time, she follows what Kyungsoo had suggested earlier, looking at Daehyun and Kyungsoo, and not at the interpreter. However, Dasom feels so distracted watching Kyungsoo and Daehyun looking between the paper of their shared thoughts, her and the interpreter, that she has to look down to what she is writing every now and then to keep her mind focused and to not trip on her words. Chanshik often glances at the interpreter when they voice for the deaf group members, and he wonders to himself, _Wow, they have quite a huge responsibility to choose the right words to say for Daehyun, and for Kyungsoo if he chooses not to talk. How do they know the right words? There’re so many words to choose from._ Being responsible for the illustrations, Chanshik waits for Dasom to finish writing the last few words of their discussion before being handed the paper. It is one-third covered with writing, but he is not too concerned about the leftover blank space underneath. He draws what the group decided to be the best choice of illustration that portrays their interpretation of events in Dante’s _Inferno_.

The group cooperates quite well and the members end up finishing their discussion with a lot of time to spare. For the last ten minutes of the group work time, they continue their deaf culture discussion from earlier. Now that they are done with the group work, Kyungsoo and Daehyun are aware that the other students are still working on their group work. When they instruct Dasom and Chanshik real-life examples of handling deaf etiquettes, such as getting a deaf person’s attention by waving, tapping, or stomping, they try to do it as discreetly as possible, and with little noise as well.

Once group discussion time is up for the classroom, Kyungsoo hears Miyoung ordering the groups to come up front in numerical order, and using the overhead, show the classroom how they have interpreted their assigned verse. Daehyun and Kyungsoo watch Hyoyeon switch with Doojoon, and their professor walking over to the entry door where the light switch is located. As Miyoung turns off all but one light, the students blink their eyes quickly to adjust to the slight darkness. Daehyun and Kyungsoo do the same, adjusting to the change in lighting to check if Hyoyeon is still visible, especially with her hands and face. Hyoyeon is barely visible.

Miyoung asks Kyungsoo and Daehyun if they can see their interpreter and, unfortunately, they shake their heads. So she experiments with the lights, only leaving one switch on to suit to Kyungsoo and Daehyun’s visibility. Once it all works out and Kyungsoo and Daehyun can see their interpreter, Miyoung catches sight of Dasom and Chanshik glancing and smiling at their deaf group members. Kyungsoo and Daehyun, staring at the interpreter, are oblivious to the genuine looks.

“Alright, so Group Number 1~, please come on up and show us what you got,” Miyoung announces and goes to sit down with the student audience as Group Number 1 assemble up front.

Kyungsoo and Daehyun watch their interpreter as they see what the first two groups have to say about the Fourth circle of Hell, which is Greed. There are silly drawings of stick people and interesting backdrop sceneries of their portrayals of Hell. One group, the first of the two groups to talk about the Fifth circle, Anger, comes up to display their written interpretations of their assigned verse. Kyungsoo and his group are next, the last of the two groups for the Fifth Circle of Hell. Kyungsoo places the sheet on top of the overhead. Just as he is about to place the sheet and talks, he does quickly hears the accumulated gasps of “whoa”s and “oh my god”s. He turns around to look at his group members, smirking at Daehyun, Dasom and Chanshik. Chanshik grins back, obviously proud of his own work.

As Kyungsoo describes what the illustrations show and explains what they have come up with to interpret the events, Miyoung and the classroom are surprised to see a drawing of such professional quality on the drop-down screen and such an eloquent set of two writings on it as well. Chanshik, and Daehyun add in their thoughts, with Chanshik explaining his drawing intentions and Hyoyeon voicing for Daehyun as he gives the group’s insights about the drawing. The illustrations shows two men on a boat, with some kind of a demon next to them, in mid-action of rowing the boat. They are sailing on a sea mixed with dead souls reaching out to them. Chanshik drew some souls that looked frighteningly grotesque. There seems to be a gate or shore on the right side of the paper, and the boat is drawn to be taking the passengers there.

Once Kyungsoo and his group finish, the audience claps for them. It is quite an unexpected reaction for Kyungsoo and the group. Daehyun looks at his fellow members, who are also looking back at him, quite surprised at the reaction. They all share a secret smile with each other and, once they are back to their seats, they give each other little high fives, and sit back to watch the other groups present. Some of the groups have done a similar method as Kyungsoo’s group, their sheets being hybrids of writings and drawings. Once the groups after Kyungsoo’s group had presented, Kyungsoo and Daehyun feel it respectful to clap for them as well. The rest of the classroom has no problem with that as they do the same.

When the last group ends their presentation, Miyoung stands up and goes to turn on all the lights in the classroom. She exclaims “whoa” as she catches herself blinking to adjust to the brightness, and she notices everyone doing the same. Miyoung asks for the classroom to clap for everyone who has given their best efforts to present what they have done for the class.

“You all surpassed my expectations today, this was my first time doing something like this. Having an overhead presentation instead of a seminar-like discussion, it seems like everyone enjoyed this method too, yeah?” A lot of people nod.

“In fact, I was so blown away with some of your thoughts that it makes me almost want to give you a break from reading,” and Miyoung hears the students gasp in anticipation for a couple of less-stressful homework nights. She giggles. “But, I’m not gonna do that.” She hears a mixture of playful groans and actual groans of disappointment, judging by the looks of the students’ faces.

“We’ve already read almost half of the book. Best finish what we started, yeah? We can do it! I suggest if you ever get confused with the text, consult with your group members and other students in this classroom for help. Maybe they can clarify it up for you. Who knows? If they cannot, come talk with me during my office hours. Alright, it seems like we have 15 minutes left so I’ll just let you guys go early, okay?” She hears people packing up their stuff but sees them still seated, almost getting ready to leave.

“Your reading assignment for next class is to read the pages starting with the 7th level of Hell and ending halfway in the 8th level of Hell, stop when you get to the 6th _Bolgia_. We will have a seminar discussion next time unfortunately. Class dismissed. See you on Thursday!”

“Oh, Kyunggi- I mean, Park Kyungsoo,” Miyoung catches herself with a giggle, as Kyungsoo looks at her with widened eyes in dismay that his sister had almost called him by a personal nickname in front of the classroom. Hyoyeon covers her mouth as she stifles a giggle. Miyoung clears her throat when she sees some students look weirdly at her. Taking off the microphone from her clothes, she walks over to her brother-student saying, “Park Kyungsoo, don’t forget your microphone.”


	8. An unexpected dilemma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jongin and Sehun make a new friend. Jongdae and Zitao are in an awkward situation.

After leaving Jongdae and Zitao, Luhan, Yixing, Jongin, and Sehun go their separate ways to classes. Yixing and Luhan, being upperclassmen, have a 2-hour dance studio session at 9AM; Sehun and Jongin have a 50-minute general science lecture at 9:30AM.

While the Kim twins wait for the 9:30AM bell to ring, they decide to practice their dance routine, so they go to one of the small concrete stages resting at each of the four corners of the university quad. When they reach there, they place their bags nearby, still far away enough to give them dancing space, and they position themselves opposite each other. There are many students still around in campus, since students have different class sessions at different times. With the scattered population of students in the quad, it is not much of an attention to deal with for the twins. Jongin goes to his backpack and takes out his iPod and iHome expandable bass speaker. He turns up the speaker a bit loud and readies himself in front of Sehun. There are repeated noises of a sharp exhale and clap coming from the player as Justin Bieber’s song, _Boyfriend_ , comes on. Jongin and Sehun’s bodies start to move in slow, fluid motion while freezing at every sound of a clap until the melody is heard. When the rap-melody starts, they begin doing their choreography that they have practiced over the weekend. Whenever either of them makes a misstep, they wait a few milliseconds before getting back on track and in sync.

For the next two minutes, the brothers continue to dance, not noticing that they have captured quite an audience. When the twins realize they have an audience, they keep eye contact with each other and smirk with this gleeful thrill of people watching them. There are sounds of “ooh”s, “aah”s, and “whoa”s when the twins dish out their solo parts, but the twins are too focused to acknowledge them. When the song is over, the human dancing machines turn to face their audience and bow, thanking them for watching. The audience replies with cheers and applause, before they descend the steps and disperse to go to class. The twins walk up to their backpacks and Jongin grabs his music player and speaker before putting them safely in his backpack.

“That was quite a routine you guys got there.” A soft-spoken voice comes up behind them.

Jongin and Sehun look up to see a guy with brown spiked hair and a face of pure contentment and joy. He looks young at first glance, standing a few steps away from the platform. His eyes are almost nonexistent when he smiles but it gives him a charming appeal. However, his body says otherwise. With his built, toned muscles and short height, he eludes an air of manliness and masculine sexiness. The shirt fits him well and his pants show a faint lining of well-built legs. Jongin and Sehun look at each other and back at the student, returning smiles at him.

“Thanks, we’re just first years in the dancing major. It’s for a dance audition coming up soon,” Jongin informs the guy with a bow after he and his brother stand up. “My name is Kim Jongin, by the way.”

“I’m Kim Sehun,” says Sehun, bowing.

“Ah, my name is Jongup! Moon Jongup! Nice to meet you, Kim Jongin and Kim Sehun!” Jongup smiles, his face ever so bright it almost blinds the Kim twins. He then bows and the twins bow back. They stand there almost dazed, until Jongup continues.

“I’m a first year in dancing, too! I heard about the dance auditions, and I’m also participating. I’m not new to dancing; I’ve danced almost my whole life before coming here. How about you?” Jongup implores.

“Same, it’s like dancing runs through our veins our whole lives, and we just go with it.” Sehun tries his best to reply, overcoming his lisp, and for a couple of seconds, Jongup gives him a blinking gaze. Sehun reddens and looks somewhere else.

“I see!” exclaims Jongup, startling Sehun and Jongin. “Sorry, I’m not quite the sharpest tool, but my smile makes me shine like a new one though. Or so I’ve been told.” Jongup weakly chuckles as he scratches the back of his head, feeling awkward.

The twins ask Jongup where he is heading to, and he replies, “Science. Biology 101,” and he pauses for a while, trying to remember the name of the teacher, the time, and the classroom before he finally says them. Jongin says, “That’s us! Wanna come with us, then?”

Jongup nods with a smile, and goes with the twins to their science class.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

**_Rustle rustle…scritch scratch…squeak squeak squeak…click clack…_ **

Jongdae and Zitao are taking their Math 301 Calculus exam. Zitao is almost done before half an hour has passed. In both Zitao and Jongdae’s ears, there are sounds of pencils and pens scribbling, of buttons on calculators being pressed and of erasers squeaking as they are being rubbed on the exam papers. People are trying to be quiet when they move in their desk seats, trying to get out so they can submit their finished exams before leaving. Putting aside his graphing calculator, Zitao writes in his final answers on the scantron and looks up to see the time: 9:25AM.

Zitao nods to himself, assuring himself that he has spared himself 25 minutes until the end of class. He sees the professor reading his book, often looking up when the students come up to turn in their exams. He glances quickly at Jongdae who is still working on his exam. Jongdae has been given a Braille exam and a double time extension, so what takes the class 50 minutes for the exam gives him 100 minutes, an hour and 40 minutes. Jongdae’s fingers dance across the exam, fingertips brushing against the bumps of sentences and of diagrams. After a moment of sweeping his exam, with his right hand, Jongdae searches for his pencil lying nearby his exam and grabs it, while his left hand scans for the bumps on his scantron paper resting between the pencil and the exam, indicating where to start bubbling the answers.

Snapping out of his daze, Zitao looks ahead and gets up out of his seat, picking up his exam. He walks to the table that has a scattered pile of exams, and he places his own on top of the pile. The professor looks up, gives him a nod and a smile as a sign of thanks, before looking back down to continue reading. Realizing that he has been holding his breath since he walked up to the table, Zitao exhales slowly as he turns around to walk back to his seat and picks up his backpack. He stows his calculator away in the front pocket of his backpack, and puts his pencil and eraser in the small side pocket. Turning around while slinging his backpack over his shoulder, he notices that some people are still taking the test. He leaves the classroom and just when he walks out the door, he looks back at Jongdae, who still does not know that Zitao is leaving the classroom. He decides to wait for him outside.

**_Squeeeakkk…groan…shuffle…_ **

Desks are creaking, being dragged across the floor surface, as students get out of their desks, walking to the exam-loaded table. The sounds filling Jongdae’s ears are a bit annoying, but Jongdae does not mind. He has gotten used to background noises a long time ago during his concentration, so this time in the Math classroom is no different. Jongdae takes his time completing his exam, only halfway there.

“Okay everyone, please turn in your exams!! That means pencils down, calculators covered, exams in hands and on this table. NOW,” The teacher announces the classroom at 9:50AM. He then gets up from his chair to walk up to Jongdae. Placing his hand on Jongdae’s shoulder, he adds in a low voice, “Lee Jongdae-sshi, you still have plenty of time, about an hour left.” Jongdae nods and continues his exam.

**_A lot of shuffling is heard but no words of chatter…there is a sound of a door clicking in place…and then dead silence._ **

Jongdae hears nothing for the next 20 minutes since the closing of the door. He is easily able to focus more on his exam. As he moves his hands about, scanning his Braille exam and poking holes for the answers, he hears his professor shuffling papers and gently moving about, with the sound of zippers closing, as if he is packing up. Jongdae’s ears pick up a gentle tapping on the table, as if the professor is a bit restless. Ten minutes later, he hears footsteps approaching, only to stop somewhere in front of him. Jongdae is on the last few problems when he hears the professor clear his throat and he looks up.

“Kim Jongdae-sshi, I’m afraid I will have to leave you by yourself for the moment. However, I will call my assistant to come by and supervise; you may ask him if you have any questions. His name is Lee Junghwan, and he will collect your test for me. I must attend a lunch meeting. Good luck, Lee Jongdae.”

With that, the professor claps him on the shoulder and leaves. The door clicks as it closes and there is no sound at all. Jongdae feels like he is in a vacuum.

Outside the classroom, sitting on the bench close to the classroom, Zitao looks up to see the teacher leaving. He automatically goes to stand up but he stops mid-posture, crouching in an awkward position.  The professor sees him, cocking his eyebrow at him as he walks by. Shaking his head, the professor takes out his cell phone from his jacket to call someone. Zitao is thankful that the professor has a lot of students in his classroom everyday because he does not seem to recognize Zitao immediately. He then hears his professor talking on the phone.

“Lee Junghwan-ah, can you do me a favor? I have to take a bathroom break but I’ve been called to a lunch meeting. Please come over to my math classroom and supervise a student of mine taking his exam, he’s almost done. Make sure you have the exam once Lee Jongdae- yes that’s the student’s name, why, do you know him? Oh okay, well just make sure you get it and turn it to me after my lunch meeting, understand? How soon can you g...” The professor’s voice trails off as Zitao is out of earshot.

Zitao stands there, watching his professor leave. He glances around his surroundings and goes to check on his friend. He peers through the tiny vertical window slot on the door, and sees Jongdae making certain perforations on the scantron paper. Zitao glances one more time around before opening the door quietly as to not disturb his friend. Once he is successful in getting into the classroom without making any noises, he tries to close the door gently, but then the spring-loaded door jerks, almost shoving the shocked Zitao inside and there was a loud CLICK. Zitao holds his breath, hoping that Jongdae did not hear that.

But of course he did.

Alas, Jongdae did hear it as he looks up quickly from his exam. “He-hello?” he asks warily, there is only silence. Zitao can only stand there, frozen in shock. “Who’s there? Are you Lee Junghwan?”

Zitao’s eyes widen as he realizes that Jongdae is expecting Junghwan and he does not know how to tell him that it is not Junghwan but Zitao. He sees Jongdae furrowing his brow, receiving no response once again. Jongdae gently puts his pencil aside on his desk as his other arm hides the exam from view. “Who are you? Answer me, please.”

Zitao walks tentatively over to a desk closest to him, and takes off his backpack slowly to put it under the desk. Desperately thinking of some way to communicate with Jongdae, he decides to tap the desk in Morse code, praying that Jongdae knows the code.

**_Short tap, two long taps, short tap. Two short taps, one long tap. Long tap, short tap, long tap. Short tap. Long tap, short tap, long tap, again. Short tap, long tap._ **

Zitao taps out his name, but his hopes starts to crumble the moment he sees Jongdae looking towards the source with a deep confusion look on his face. “What is that noise? I can’t understand it. Please stop.”  
  
Zitao persists with his tapping desperately to make Jongdae understand it is Zitao, even if he does not seem to know the Morse code.

“Wait, Zitao? Is that you, Zitao?” Jongdae’s face slackens as he questions out loud. He brings up his hand, reaching out to the space in front of him.

Zitao widens his eyes in surprise and excitedly nods before screwing his eyes up at his foolishness. He grimaces with the reminder that Jongdae cannot see him, so he lifts his hands to clap in applause.

“No,” Jongdae draws back his arm at the last minute. Zitao gapes at him in shock, his hands almost closing together and hesitating before making a weak “clap” sound. “That’s not Zitao, I’ve never known Zitao to tap codes like that.”

Zitao claps his hands again; this time in applause, hoping Jongdae interprets the applause to be an encouraging response to Zitao’s name.

“Clapping? First tapping, now clapping?” Jongdae starts to look a little pissed. “Listen, person, whoever you are, this is not funny. If you’re not Junghwan or Zitao, I ask that you please kindly leave the classroom. You think this is a joke to you, to distract a blind student from the test? I am trying to finish my exam with the last problem and you are clearly distracting me. Enough with the clapping, I said.” By the end of his tirade, Jongdae looks really mad. Zitao feels helpless with hearing the threat from Jongdae, and decides to go for it by walking up and reaching for Jongdae’s hand to shake it gently in an up-down motion.

Just when he is inches from touching Jongdae’s hand, Zitao looks around as the door opens and the student assistant is standing there, looking up upon entering. Zitao freezes in shock, but Jongdae is unfazed to what is going on.

“What the hell is going on here?”


	9. Crisis Averted, and Kyungsoo gets awkward.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jongdae and Zitao are finally reconciled. Chanyeol and Baekhyun has a pop quiz. Kyungsoo and Daehyun gets friends but something comes up that causes Kyungsoo to get awkward.

“What the hell is going on here?” Lee Junghwan says icily to the scene in front of him. Jongdae is sitting at his desk, his arms on the desk table, staring straight ahead. Zitao is standing in front of Jongdae, hands reaching out mid-air, as if he is trying to grab something.

Jongdae quickly looks to the sound source and glares. “Can someone tell me what is going on?” Jongdae asks. Zitao looks frantically between Junghwan standing at the door, and Jongdae, who is up close. He decides to go for it and touch Jongdae’s hand to shake it in an up-down motion. Before he can shake it, Jongdae lets out a yell and tugs his hand out of Zitao’s grasp, looking straight ahead. “Who are you?” He inquires with such disdain that Zitao has never seen before.

“What right do you have to touch my hand like that after not responding to who you are? You’re not Zitao,” Jongdae shuffles his exam and scantron, and rests his arms on top of them. Jongdae glares at Zitao’s midsection. “Are you trying to cheat? Because you would be stupid to know that this is all in Braille.”

Zitao’s throat hitches as he blinks in shock, frustrated with himself for being in a complicated situation, and becoming slightly frustrated at Jongdae for being stubborn. He looks at Junghwan and tries to gesture at him that he is a friend of Jongdae.

“What do you have to explain about yourself?” Junghwan walks a little forward to let the door close, sneering at Zitao. He stops after a few steps with his arms crossed, blocking the door, as if he is warning Zitao that he will not be going anywhere until the situation is sorted out. “And enough of that, we are having a conversation right now.”

Jongdae is confused at who the question is being asked. He turns his hands upward, palms up, in exasperation. “I’m taking my exam!” He indicates the exam on the desk with his hands. He then asks scathingly, “What else do you think? Who are you? Are you with him too?”

“My name is Lee Junghwan” –“oh oops” Jongdae says– “I know who you are, Lee Jongdae. I’ve been told from the professor that you’re taking the Calculus Exam today and that you’re almost done. But there is a student standing in front of you. Are you aware of his presence?”

Jongdae nods furiously, “Yes, sir. He came in and I heard a door click loudly. He started tapping some weird noises somewhere over there,” he points to his right, towards the desk that is close to Junghwan. “Then he started clapping. Mr. Lee Junghwan, I think this student is trying to cheat me!”

“Tsk…tsk,” Junghwan clicks his teeth, cocking his eyebrow at Zitao. “Is that true, student? Are you trying to cheat on the test? And what is your name, so I don’t have to keep calling you ‘student’.”

Zitao shakes his head, trying to explain with his arms and hands that he is not here to cheat but to keep Jongdae company. As for his name, he makes his way towards his laptop bag sitting next to Junghwan, but Junghwan stops him with his hand out. It is almost as if Junghwan’s hand has gained control over Zitao, holding him in place.

“Why the hell are you not saying anything?! You have a throat and a mouth, use it! Listen, if you keep on doing that, you are asking for trouble,” Junghwan snarls.

Zitao stares at Junghwan in fear. He points to his throat and shakes his head. He crosses his arms while opening and closing his mouth. Meanwhile, Jongdae becomes puzzled with the Junghwan’s statement, especially with the “You have a throat and mouth” part. Being so caught up in the moment with his anger and confusion, he takes a deep breath to relax and exhales, his mind reeling to figure out who the person is.

“What, you are not making any sense. It’s fine to talk in here. If you want, you can whisper,” Junghwan compromises with Zitao. Zitao shakes his head again. Junghwan sighs, “Listen, why don’t you kindly leave through the door while I supervise,” Junghwan assures Zitao. “I won’t say a word about what happens her-“

The door opens again and another student’s head peeks into view. Junghwan whirls around to look at their visitor in surprise. The visitor says, “Guys, I heard yelling here. What is go- Oh hello Jongdae, it’s me, Cha Sunwoo!” Zitao thinks the student reminds him of a squirrel. With chubby cheeks.

“Oh hello, Zitao!” Sunwoo waves at him.

Zitao widens his eyes in shock. _How did he know me? Do I know him? Have I even seen him around campus?_ , he thinks to himself.

“Zi…Zitao?” Jongdae whispers weakly, his bottom lip trembling. Zitao turns around to look at him; Jongdae looks clearly shocked upon hearing the name. “Zitao, was that you all along? Oh god, Zitao. I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry, I didn’t mean to say all those words earlier. I didn’t know,” Jongdae is slightly whimpering. He reaches his hand out thinking that Zitao is in front of him, but he only grasps air. Nevertheless, he continues to put his hand out. “Can you forgive me? I’m so stupid for not realizing it was you the whole time. Zitao?”

Feeling relieved that Jongdae realizes it is him, Zitao looks towards Jongdae with slight pity, and then back at Sunwoo and Junghwan. Junghwan frowns, clearly bewildered. Behind Junghwan, Sunwoo places his hand on his shoulder.

“Yah, Junghwan-ah,” Sunwoo murmurs to Junghwan. “Do you not know him?” Junghwan shakes his head in reply. Sunwoo nods his head in Zitao’s direction. “It’s Huang Zitao, the mute student. He’s a brilliant math student, and is even more brilliant at linguistics. Some of the teachers talk about him. Even some of the students who have taken classes with him talk about him. He knows Morse code, both in English and Korean, as well as how to write in English, Korean, Japanese, and Mandarin. How do you not even recognize him? He’s studying in the same department as yours after all! And I’m not even majoring in Math!” Sunwoo adds with a light punch to Junghwan’s shoulder. Junghwan raises his eyebrows in awe, looking at Sunwoo.

Meanwhile, Jongdae senses Zitao stepping closer to him, and he feels two hands cradling his hand. _Ah, there’s that familiar calloused hand_ , Jongdae notes to himself. An up-down shake of his hand, saying _yes, I forgive you_ , and Jongdae knows this is Zitao. He asks Zitao, “Why are you here, really?”

Jongdae feels his hand being pried open like a bud opening her petals, with his palm facing upward. He feels tapping and finger strokes across his palm. With every stroke that Zitao writes on Jongdae’s palm, the same stroke is pictured in Jongdae’s head. In the darkness of his vision, Jongdae pictures a white brush imitating the strokes on his palm, moving on to the next character as Zitao pauses between words.

_“I was outside waiting when the professor passed by me and made a call to his assistant to come supervise. I wanted to come in and keep you company, to make sure you were okay until the teacher assistant arrived. There wasn’t anyone else here except you.”_

“Oh,” is all that Jongdae says, realization dawning on him. _So Zitao just came in to keep me company, was that it?_ _How did he hear about the student assistant coming over?_ Jongdae turns his upward palmed hand so he is gripping Zitao’s wrist. He brings his other hand to hold Zitao’s gripped hand. For the first time in a while since the tests were distributed this morning, Jongdae smiles at Zitao.

A noise of throat clearing breaks the silence in the classroom. Junghwan and Sunwoo have been watching the scene the whole time with curiosity.

“So, Jongdae, what is going on exactly, with Zitao? What did he say?” Junghwan asks him.

“Oh, Zitao heard that you were coming and he didn’t want to leave me alone, so he came in to keep me company,” Jongdae turns to look in the same direction where he has heard Junghwan’s voice. “See, he walked me to class this morning because we were taking the tests…oh right, my test,” he bows his head as he lets go of Zitao’s hand to feel his desk around for his exam, scantron and pencil.

“What’s the progress of your test? Are you finished?” Junghwan implores, making his way towards Jongdae.

Zitao steps back to give Junghwan and Jongdae some privacy and space. Jongdae hesitates before saying apprehensively, “I-I…I’m not sure. I know I’m almost done but the whole commotion since Zi...Zitao came in,” he blushes at the memory of his rude attitude towards Zitao, “threw me off guard.”

Junghwan nods in understanding and cranes his head to see Jongdae’s papers. “Well, I hope you don’t mind, Jongdae, but I’m looking at your papers, and it looks like you have one last question left on the scantron to punch in. Why don’t you finish that up? We’ll be waiting in our desks near the entrance. Give us a shout when you’re done, and I’ll come collect your test, okay, Jongdae?” He claps Jongdae on the shoulder with an assured smile. Realizing that Jongdae cannot see him, he gently squeezes his shoulder as a sign of assurance.

Zitao sits in the desk under which his laptop bag is placed, while Sunwoo and Junghwan sit in the desks adjacent to him. They converse in whispers with Zitao as to not disturb Jongdae, and Zitao replies back on paper. Apparently, Sunwoo was in a class with Zitao the year before. Zitao never knew that he was among the hot topics of the college campus last year; he did not hear gossips about him because he would often stick with Luhan and Yixing. In his first year, no one knew him, and no one bothered to talk to him, except his friends Yixing and Luhan. In his second year, he noticed he would get stares and mutterings from his classmates. Ever since his first year in college, he has never taken any discussion seminar classes, because he was not ready for the feeling of having everyone focusing on each other and being attentive to what others have to say. Zitao has done well on his exams, always being in the top 5 students with high percentages. Sunwoo explains that people were unsure how to communicate with Zitao because he seemed shy and secluded. It does not take long before Jongdae announces that he is finished with the test.

Junghwan, Sunwoo and Zitao turn their heads to see Jongdae packing up, leaving his scantron and test on the desk. Junghwan then gets up to collect Jongdae’s paperwork.

“Alright, you’re free to go, Jongdae. I apologize that we all had to go through that rough patch earlier,” he says guiltily, eyes shifting to rest on Zitao and back to Jongdae. Zitao nods solemnly and Jongdae echoes Junghwan’s apology, feeling very apologetic once again towards Zitao for his harsh words.

Sunwoo, looking a bit grim, lightens up and says, “Alright, enough of this somber mood. Let’s get out of here and enjoy the sun!”

The others agree. Zitao walks to Jongdae and retrieves the walking stick from Jongdae’s backpack. He passes the stick to Jongdae as Jongdae slings his bag over his shoulder. He lets Jongdae wrap his arm around his arm, and leads him to the entrance. Sunwoo has picked up Zitao’s laptop bag and gives it to Zitao before opening the door for the students to exit. Junghwan scans the room for anything left behind and goes to turn off the lights before leaving the classroom as well. The group decides to hang around and wait an hour until noon comes.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Baekhyun and Chanyeol have left Kyungsoo and Daehyun with Joonmyeon to go to their 9AM seminar discussion class. Once they have arrived to their classroom, they take their seats near the back of the classroom and drop their backpacks under their seats. They wait for the professor to arrive. Once the female professor enters the classroom, she flatly announces they will have a small group activity discussion…after a pop quiz. She takes out her pre-written pop quizzes from her briefcase and separates them into four sections. She is known to have 4 different versions of pop quizzes on quiz days: Versions A, B, C, and D. On most days, she alternates between eight lines of desks in a pattern of A, B, C, D, A, B, C, D. On other days, the pattern goes like A, B, C, D, D, C, B, A. Rarely does she ever mix up the order. As she goes to distribute the quizzes announcing she will do ABCDDCBA, Baekhyun goggles his eyes at her and side-glances at Chanyeol. Chanyeol does the same thing, and the two of them slightly face each other.

Chanyeol raises his eyebrows in a questioning manner, mouthing silently, _Did you know we were gonna have a pop quiz?_

 _No, idiot. There’s a reason why it’s a pop quiz. Did you study anything over the weekend?_ Baekhyun shakes his head, replying back soundlessly, a worried look on his face.

 _Erm…a little…yesterday,_ Chanyeol admits with a slight sway in his eyes and holding up a pinch of air in his hand .

 _Me, too,_ Baekhyun bites his lip. His eyes stare blankly at Chanyeol’s desk and he looks back up at Chanyeol. _We’re screw-_

Baekhyun glances up automatically, smiling at the professor’s sudden arrival, as she approaches in between them. The professor gazes down at Baekhyun with a hard stare, and flickers her eyes over to Chanyeol. Chanyeol looks back at her with an innocent look. Sneering at Chanyeol, the professor licks her thumb to flip out a pop quiz from the pad in her arms. With her eyes still on Chanyeol, she goes to hand it to Baekhyun when at the last minute, as soon as Baekhyun reaches for it, the paper evades Baekhyun’s fingers and the professor’s hand immediately switches over to Chanyeol.

Chanyeol gulps, staring at the pop quiz. Baekhyun is supposed to receive Version C along with the people in his desk aisle, while Chanyeol and his desk aisle are supposed to get Version D.  Baekhyun gawks at his professor’s actions and does not talk back at her. Instead, he sits quietly. Chanyeol wordlessly takes the paper and he feels disheartened when he sees the version letter on the top right corner of the pop quiz: Version C, what Baekhyun was supposed to get. The teacher smiles at him with a slight tilt of her head, as if saying _Ha, too bad_. Chanyeol does nothing to counter the professor and takes out a pencil from his backpack before focusing on the quiz.

The professor looks over to Baekhyun and scans the pop quizzes. She takes out Version A and passes it to the student nervously looking up at her. Baekhyun accepts the pop quiz with a slight smile, and mimics Chanyeol as he too takes out his pencil. The professor nods once before turning around and making her way to the front of the room. Baekhyun exhales and stares at the quiz and, as if there is a telepathic connection between Chanyeol and him, they slowly look sideways at each other and shake their heads. _We should have studied more over the weekend._ There is a loud _crack_ from the front – the professor has slapped the ruler on her desk, announcing the pop quiz has begun – and both Chanyeol and Baekhyun snap their focus to their quizzes. Psychology is beginning to become their least favorite subject to study in college.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Youngjae and JB arrive to their classroom early, and are sitting in the middle of the sea of desks. Some students have shown up and there are still some who have not shown up yet. With a few minutes to spare, they discuss their strategies on Starcraft before bringing up the subject of their gaming psychoanalysis of Starcraft as well as of gamers who live their lives with a computer in front of them. It just so happens that Youngjae is intrigued about Yongguk’s warning from this morning, so he wants to bring it up in their dialogue.

The professor has not arrived yet and it is already 9:05AM. By then, the classroom is full with chatty students. Their professor has the tendency to show up to class usually late because of traffic.

At 9:10AM, the class starts to get silent. The professor had announced earlier in the term that he usually would be here in class by 9:05AM, no later than that. Youngjae and JB hear whisperings and murmurings that if the professor does not show up in the next 10 minutes, they will just have to sign a sheet of paper that has the roll of attendance of the students who waited in the classroom. Youngjae and JB nod at each other, lips pouting nonchalantly. They have no problem with that.

There is a sudden burst of the classroom door opening at 9:12AM as the professor enters, gasping for breath and holding his briefcase. All eyes are on the male professor as the students are startled by the noise. Youngjae and JB look at each other with slightly confused looks on their faces.

“I’m…sorry. My…fellow…students,” the professor heaves as he staggers to the front table. He gasps between pauses of his words, “I…had to run…*wheezes* about 2 miles from here…because…because my car got hijacked. Luckily, *wheezes* …luckily I didn’t keep anything valuable in there so…it’s all okay but damn, oops sorry, that was…a freaking…old car. Who in their right…mind would want a…an old…junk of…a car?”

The students giggle weakly, unsure whether to find it funny or serious. The professor glances around at the classroom and says, “You can all laugh, it’s okay. I mean, think about it. It _is_ kinda ridiculous that someone wants an old car, given the car trends these days. But maaan, whew! That was one heck of a long run. Wheeww! Let me catch my breath, you guys. It may take a while, after all. I’m only in my 40’s, but not much stamina like you guys. Please do the usual layout, if you will. We’ll talk about cyber social life vs. non-cyber social life. Now if anyone would please make a roll of attendance and pass it around, that would be fantastic.”

Youngjae and JB smirk at each other when they hear the topic discussion, finding it funny that they had just discussed it not too long ago. They, along with the rest of the classroom, shuffle and drag their desks across the floor to form a rectangular layout.

Silence falls upon the classroom as the eyes of the students nervously look around to see who will initiate the discussion. The teacher has brought his desk over to the rectangle and sits down, expecting the students to say something.

“Well? Does anyone have something to say about oh, I don’t know,” the professor shrugs, “the pros and cons of each side, or maybe start up a debate about this topic? This is after all Debate 201, guys, not Debate 101. Come now, will anyone volunteer?”

Youngjae raises his hand and begins his platform with an accusation that he had heard from a friend of his.

“This morning, a hyung of mine said to my friend and I…”

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay, pencils down. Turn over your papers and pass them forward. Now.” A tittering voice of the professor rumbles throughout the classroom, startling Baekhyun and Chanyeol.

 _Shit, in the 15 minutes we had for this quiz, I only managed to answer 3½ out of 4 questions._ Baekhyun frowns, hating the fact that each of the four problems has a subset of 3 questions, bringing the pop quiz to a total of 12 problems. Each problem is worth 5 points, and he was about to work on 3c. With the pop quiz in his hand, he extends his arm to pass it to the person in front of him. At the same time he looks over to Chanyeol, who is looking back at him with a look of defeat.

Chanyeol holds up two fingers, and mouths one letter, _b._ Baekhyun mimics him with three fingers instead and says _c._

Chanyeol shakes his head. _There’s plenty of time to make up for that, it’s only our third pop quiz out of Heaven-knows-how-many-pop-quizzes,_ Chanyeol expresses that thought with a shrug and an eyeroll.

“Hmm…hm… _hmmm_ …mmm,” the professor looks through some of the quizzes and happens to come across Chanyeol’s quiz when she hums the third time, making everyone watch her silently. She raises her eyes to look at Chanyeol, and Chanyeol knows that the professor is targeting her icy daggers only at him. Chanyeol cannot resist a shiver in his body.

“So it looks like most of you have done alright, and some of you…lacked the focus to finish the quiz,” disappointment drips heavily in the professor’s voice. “Anyway, we must continue on with our discussion agenda. Today we will be talking about the behaviors of individuals and how social interactions may differ between small and large groups. Remember to speak with a college-level vocabulary list and do not include such words as ‘basically’ and ‘obviously’. What you talk about may seem obvious to you, but it will not seem obvious to us.”

Baekhyun and Chanyeol look at each other and sigh in defeat. _This is gonna be a long term,_ Baekhyun and Chanyeol think to themselves. They are not the only ones who think the same either; they notice other students fidgeting in their seats, feeling pressured to think up lists of college-leveled vocabulary to use.

Minutes feels like hours until the professor releases the students at 9:54AM. Baekhyun and Chanyeol have offered their opinions but they do not have enough support for them. When the teacher strikes them down with even more challenging and intimidating questions, they find themselves unable to answer back. They are not the only ones; the others feel the wrath as well when they speak up. Very few students manage to convince the professor of their opinions.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

**_Inhale…Fresh air…Exhale…_ **

Once the couple got out of class at 9:55AM, Chanyeol wraps his arm around Baekhyun’s shoulders and tilts his face to rest on Baekhyun’s head. The couple leaves the Letters, Arts and Science building, making their way across campus to their core classes, classes pertaining to their majors, which last an hour longer than their 9AM class.

“That class is gonna be hell for us, Baekhyun-ah. Seriously. My brain already hurts from all the torments, and it’s not even…10AM. This is preposterous and highly unjustifiable for our brains to grind themselves to the point of being mumble jumbles. Oh great, my mind is still reeling from the side effects of our seminar discussion. Whoop de doo.” Chanyeol sighs. He wiggles his hand that is hanging off Baekhyun’s shoulder, signaling Baekhyun to hold his hand. Baekhyun obliges with a smile, raising his hand to hold Chanyeol’s hand, and continues to listen what his boyfriend has to say. “At least we’re done with this for today. And we have two more manageable classes to focus on for today and then tomorrow are just our core classes, so less stressful for us. Yeeessssss.”

Hearing Chanyeol’s deep voice as he sighs makes Baekhyun shiver. Baekhyun relishes in the feeling that he is surrounded by Chanyeol: his scent, his arm, and his cheek on top of Baekhyun’s head. Baekhyun cannot believe just how lucky he is to have Chanyeol in his life, especially when Chanyeol treats his twin brother with no judgment. Baekhyun loves his twin brother too, but the feeling is different when it comes to loving Chanyeol. The fact that someone like Chanyeol can love Baekhyun for who he is, and can rekindle the spark in their relationship every time, makes Baekhyun incredibly happy. The way Chanyeol wants to get to know his brother and learn the sign language alphabet just to communicate with them for fun and always making sure Kyungsoo is caught up with what he says. Sometimes Chanyeol and Baekhyun use the alphabet as their secret language in class when they are far from each other. The way Chanyeol keeps their bodies in contact, whether holding hands, draping his arm over Baekhyun’s shoulders, hooking their pinkie fingers together, or brushing their hands while they walk. Baekhyun likes that Chanyeol is not too fond of PD(E)A, Public Displays of (Extreme) Affection. He likes how Chanyeol is very smart when it comes to saving money and spending; heck, it is because of Chanyeol that Baekhyun uses coupons for groceries and for food, as well as waiting for the best time for sales to appear on clothes and items that the both of them want to get. He learned from Chanyeol how to be modest and humble.

“Earth to Baekkie…” Chanyeol singsongs.

Baekhyun feels a shake in his hand and around his shoulder, and snaps out of his reverie. He peeks upward in Chanyeol’s direction and realizing that Chanyeol must have asked him something, he asks him to repeat.

“Ahh…you’re lost in your thoughts once again, Baekkiehyun,” Chanyeol chuckles. “Anyway, I was asking you what you feel like eating for lunch later. It’s almost 10AM, Youngjae and what’s his name, JB?, should be waiting for us at the performance art buildings.”

“Hm…the smoothie place?” Baekhyun suggests. “I’m kind of in the mood for something fruity and fresh.”

“Not a bad idea, since the weather’s getting warmer,” Chanyeol looks up to the scattered spots and lumps of clouds in the blue sky. They remind him of chewy mochi.

Youngjae and JB are standing in front of the music building, waiting for Baekhyun and Chanyeol. They have gotten out earlier than usual, because their professor has promised to make up for lost time in the next class session, plus he feels that he should really try to get his old car back as soon as possible. So here they stand, in front of the building, chatting about their compositions and more compositions, when they see Baekhyun and Chanyeol walking a bit huddled. JB is talking about his choreography that he thinks is cute because his brother, JR, came up with it.

“It goes like this, ‘Shake it shake it for me, lemme see you~ Shake it shake it for me everybody~’” JB sings as he slightly twists his hips, raising his hands and arms to chest level. Youngjae likes it and decides to copy him.

Chanyeol exclaims as he and Baekhyun approach their singing friends, “Ayo… Uh…what are you guys doing?” Chanyeol watches them dancing, twisting their hips.

Youngjae replies, “Ah, JB here’s showing me a dance choreo his brother showed him that goes with a new song he composed recently. What do you think?”

Youngjae and JB are met with Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s blank faces. Chanyeol stares at JB, “Dude…no more shakin’ like dat. You guys are too old to be like this.”

“Why? Isn’t it cute though?” JB asks him.

“Yeah, it’s _too_ cute for you two I just wanna cringe and puke rainbows. Don’t ever do that again. These charms do not match your age,” Chanyeol says pointedly.

Baekhyun’s ears perk up at this, and he slowly turns his head to peer at Chanyeol. He deadpans, “What about me then? We’re pretty much the same age. You find my light strobe dances cute even though it’s immature.”

Chanyeol stares at him as if he’s gone a bit crazy. “Baekkie, you're the only exception. Don’t get too jealous, baby.” He pats his boyfriend’s behind, grinning. “Alright guys, I’ll be seeing you guys at the smoothie place. See you later! Until then, Baekhyun-ah.” Chanyeol waves to Youngjae and JB, but when he bids farewell to Baekhyun, he intertwines their hands before raising their hands to put a kiss on each of Baekhyun’s knuckles. _Aww, Baekhyunnie looks cute and, judging by his flushed face, he didn’t quite see this coming,_ Chanyeol chuckles to himself.

Baekhyun freezes in shock at his boyfriend’s affectionate gesture. He casts a sideway glance at Youngjae and JB, thankful that they respected their private moment by looking away. They seem to be talking about something, like some kind of a snack experiment, chocolate-dipped apples, or even apple with chocolate fondue. Chanyeol then lets go of Baekhyun’s hand after giving it a gentle squeeze and heads to the building adjacent to the music building, the performing arts center that holds the theater.

Baekhyun joins Youngjae and JB as they walk into the music building for their 10AM lecture. Their core classes, being studio recordings and choral practices, fall on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they have general education classes and music lectures. This kind of schedule applies to all Fine Arts underclassmen majors on campus: Dance, Theatre and Music.  Underclassmen students with Liberal Arts or Math majors, such as Jongdae, Zitao, Kyungsoo and Daehyun, have regular core classes for an hour and a half every day. They also have an addition of general education classes, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, that vary between 50 minutes and 110 minutes. Upperclassmen, such as Yixing, Luhan, and Joonmyeon, have flexible schedules to choose how they want their weekly classes laid out.

Baekhyun, Youngjae and JB take their seats when they finally arrive inside the classroom on the second floor of their music building. Their 10AM class is more fun compared to their 9AM classes, especially for Baekhyun. Last year, as first years, they learned about the basic theories and application of music. This year, as second years, they learn about the tones in various genres of music as well as the detailed history of music for the whole school year. For the past few weeks, their professor has made every class lesson as interactive as possible, half of the class time is based on lecture and the other half is based on experimenting and analyzing different types of music.

When class is over at 11:50, the trio leaves the classroom feeling inspired to experiment with different styles of singing. Baekhyun thinks of doing trot, JB thinks of adding rock vocals to his song, and Youngjae wants to try rapping, even though his forte is soul and R&B. They meet up with Chanyeol who is waiting for them out in front of the building. Chanyeol has explained that the professor let them out early because there was something wrong with some manuscripts the professor had ordered, so he needed to deal with that as soon as possible. Looking at the concerned faces of Baekhyun, JB, and Youngjae, he assures them that he has not been waiting too long, only 10 minutes. They then make their way to the Food Court.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

[See-later, o-k? Tell-us more later must, you! take-care!] “See you guys later, alright? Oh, you guys have to fill us in later about what happened with Joonmyeon this morning. Take care!” Hyoyeon say to Kyungsoo and Daehyun, with Doojoon behind her. The duo nods their heads, Daehyun with a cheery nod and Kyungsoo with a shy nod, before leaving the classroom.

[Cannot believe you tell ns{Hyoyeon}! Also ns{Doojoon}! *Kyungsoo shakes his head in dismay* fs[TOO] Soon for anything confirm!] _(I cannot believe you told her about it! And even Doojoon! It’s too freaking soon for anything to be confirmed!)_ Kyungsoo stares at his friend, feeling a bit down. Daehyun lifts his hand to pat on Kyungsoo’s shoulder, [ns{Kyungsoo}, patience. Everything o-k. True something great maybe for you!] _(Kyungsoo, deal with it. Everything’s fine! Surely this can be something great for you!)_

Kyungsoo raises his eyebrows and retorts back, [Really? If happen you, think same now?] _(Seriously? If we reversed roles and Joonmyeon was flirting with you, would you think it’s great?)_

They are in the hallway, almost reaching the exit doors when Kyungsoo hears two voices shouting.

“DAEHY-ACK! KYUNGSOO! HOLD UP! WAIIIITTT!!! KYUNGSOO!”

Kyungsoo stops Daehyun, his hand on Daehyun’s arm as Daehyun makes a move to push the doors into the open outdoor space. Daehyun looks down at Kyungsoo, furrowing his eyebrows, and Kyungsoo looks over his own shoulder into the hallway. [Wait, shout] _(Wait, someone’s calling)._

Daehyun turns around, and they see Dasom and Chanshik running towards them. When the running students come closer, Daehyun and Kyungsoo are self-conscious about their heights, especially compared to Chanshik. This is their first time to see their group mates’ actual heights. Kyungsoo and Daehyun slowly look up at Chanshik, who has to be at least a head taller than them, and look at each other before glancing at Dasom, who is slightly shorter. Dasom and Chanshik are panting and gasping after their dash to catch their deaf group mates.

“Umm…wanna be friends?” Chanshik asks, looking between Kyungsoo and Daehyun. Blinking at the sudden question, Kyungsoo then starts interpreting for Daehyun. “Dasom and I were talking a while back in class how we wanna learn sign language from you two” – “But nothing too hard, though…yet!” Dasom adds in cheerily – “We wanna at least know the alphabet, if you can teach us, please. We thought of asking the interpreters but we realized it would not be as fun as it would be to learn from you guys, so yeah,” Chanshik breathes out an air of exhaustion, “whew, here we are. Thank goodness we caught you just in time.” Dasom nods, agreeing.

Daehyun and Kyungsoo tentatively look at each other and cock their heads slightly to one side with a shrug of their shoulders, as if saying to each other, _We can try_. [Sure, why-not? Us two no-mind *Kyungsoo shakes his head* teach you-two. sorry but friendship little issue with us.] “Sure, why not?” says Kyungsoo. Shaking his head, he adds, “We don’t mind teaching you guys. I’m sorry but friendship’s a bit of an issue with us.”

Looking at the dejected faces of their former group mates, Kyungsoo holds out his hand, [Not THINK you-two BAD, just REQUIRE time trust patience, especially communication.] “Not that we don’t trust you, it’s just a matter of time with trust and patience, especially in communication.”

“Oh,” Dasom says, a bit confused. “Why do you say that?”

Daehyun looks past Dasom and Chanshik’s shoulders and sees scattered groups of people making their way towards them. He assumes they, like Daehyun and Kyungsoo initially, are heading out. He beckons the other three with his hand digging the air, saying “Cohmon. Lessgo ousaid.” He points at the scene behind Chanshik and Dasom, who then turn around and see the people, before agreeing to go outside.

**_Whooosh….tweet tweet…chirp… A student exclaims “OMO OMO OMO, AHAHAHAHA” as she watches her guy friend do a stupid, silly dare stunt…_ **

Now the four of them are making their way to the University Food Court; Dasom, Kyungsoo, Daehyun and Chanshik, almost shoulder to shoulder. They are pretty relieved to see the beautiful day outside, with the birds chirping. It is only a few moments of silence when Dasom asks, “So, why do you guys have friendship issues?”

Kyungsoo looks at her in curiosity before remembering their conversation earlier and Kyungsoo twists his head to look at Daehyun, who is just staring straight ahead, oblivious to what Dasom has asked. He then taps Daehyun’s shoulder and interprets Dasom’s question. [“Flip-turn you?” “Flip-turn me?”] _(You wanna answer that or shall I?)_ Kyungsoo raises his eyebrows in questioning manner. Daehyun shakes his head, lightly scrunching his nose and nods his head upwards at Kyungsoo.

“Okay, so uhh…” Kyungsoo starts as he signs, getting Chanshik and Dasom’s attentions, already having Daehyun’s attention. “It’s a strange thing for you guys to hear but please understand when I say this: Most hearing people look down on us, the deaf minority, because they think we can’t talk properly and that we can’t hear a single thing. You heard how Daehyun talks, right?” Chanshik and Dasom nod. “Does it bother you or frustrate you in understanding how Daehyun speaks?”

Dasom and Chanshik shake their heads, and Chanshik brings his arm around Daehyun’s shoulder. Daehyun, a bit startled at the touch, looks around to see Chanshik giving him a smile and feels the pat on his left shoulder. Realizing he has been tense from the moment Chanshik shoulder-hugged him, Daehyun relaxes as he smiles softly, looking back at Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo smiles back at him and continues, “Hearing people easily pick on that, they think we’re dumb for not pronouncing everything correctly. I used to have that too, in elementary school, but because of my hearing aids, I was able to have speech therapy once or twice a week. I still understand Daehyun’s pain, however. They treat us differently and pick on us, making us inferior. It’s even more frustrating when we try to communicate, because they don’t know signs and we don’t know how to speak clearly for them to understand us.

“We’ve been bullied at our own schools, both verbally and…physically,” Dasom gasps and Chanshik widens his eyes, looking between Daehyun and Kyungsoo, “and these memories aren’t what we’re particularly fond of remembering. It takes a lot of trust and patience to understand each other, especially with group conversations. It gets increasingly and almost painfully awkward the deeper we get into conversations, because most of the time, our reactions are delayed a bit longer than the others. Even in school classrooms, if the teacher says something funny and the whole classroom laughs, sometimes we’re the ones not laughing until a few seconds later because we’re only paying attention to the interpreter. It’s neither our fault nor the interpreter’s fault that our reactions are a bit delayed. It’s even more embarrassing when the teachers had often picked on us and made us laughing targets of our classrooms.

“Daehyun and I, though we went to different schools after we graduated from our elementary school, we reconnected recently,” Kyungsoo glances at Daehyun, who nods solemnly, “and we’ve confided in each other a lot of painful memories we’ve had to deal with, half of the things that even our brothers don’t know.”

Dasom stares at Kyungsoo and Daehyun in disbelief, “That’s awful. They must have been such horrible jerks. It must’ve been like almost the whole world was against you guys or something.” Chanshik nods.

Kyungsoo hastens to lighten the atmosphere. “Ah, I didn’t mean to make it sound so hopeless, it’s just something to let you know. On the bright side, we still have some caring friends and our families to support us.” He glances at Daehyun, and they share a knowing look. Daehyun had told Kyungsoo about his parents’ divorce during their reconnection as well, but it was nothing that their new friends needed to know.

Kyungsoo and Daehyun smile at each other, and then Kyungsoo hears a voice.

“Heyyy Joonmyeon-goon! What have you got for the next assignment?”

Kyungsoo comes to a stop and pales, surprising the other three. He whips his head around to where he heard the voice. He looks a little further to see Joonmyeon sitting and turning around, the owner of the voice walking towards him. Kyungsoo panics and roughly grabs Chanshik’s arm on Daehyun’s shoulders to pull himself behind Chanshik’s back, latching on Chanshik’s backpack. Alarmed, the whole group looks around to see any immediate danger.

“Just. Keep. Going. Guys.” Kyungsoo prods Daehyun’s back as he mutters quietly to the other two. They all oblige his order. Bewildered, Dasom asks, “But Kyungsoo, there’s nothing dangerous out the-“

“Just. Go. And. Act. Calm. Please.” Kyungsoo interrupts.

Walking for a few minutes, Daehyun catches sight of Joonmyeon and smirks to himself. He knows why Kyungsoo is being like this. Fortunately in the time span that the group has walked past him, Joonmyeon has not given one glance at the group, engrossed in a discussion with his friend. When they are at a safe distance, Kyungsoo returns to his place between Dasom and Daehyun.

Chanshik looks at him oddly, “Are you okay, Kyungsoo?”

Kyungsoo looks at him, “Hm? Oh I’m fine. Just saw a bee, that’s all.” [BEE.]

Daehyun guffaws as he reads Kyungsoo’s lips, lightly hitting Kyungsoo on the shoulder, and points at him. [Lie not bee you see, G-J-M! why YOURSELF shy hide? He busy discuss friend not see us! Silly you.] _(That’s a lie! It wasn't a bee you saw, it was Joonmyeon! Why are you so nervous, hiding from him? He was busy talking with his friend that when we walked past him, he didn’t see us! You’re so silly, Kyungsoo-yah.)_

Kyungsoo reddens and says nothing as Chanshik and Dasom stare at Daehyun, glancing at Kyungsoo for a few seconds, a bit unsure whether to laugh or not. They think Daehyun’s facial expressions are pretty amusing to watch, and it seems to them that he is joking with Kyungsoo about something. They look at each other, shrugging.

“Guys, is there something we should know?” Dasom asks warily, however with a hint of mirth in her voice.

Daehyun captures the sight of Dasom’s lips and lip-reads. Looking between Dasom’s and Chanshik’s slightly confused and amused faces, he tries to tell them with gestures.

“Kyunzs’ooh laik sunbae shoonmun. ‘e ‘ide frum ‘eem,” Daehyun articulates with every word. As he says this slowly, he points at Kyungsoo, makes a heart shape with his hands and placing it on his chest, writes Joonmyeon’s name in air and, making sure they understand his strokes, and then ends his charade with an action of hiding and pointing Joonmyeon’s direction.

Dasom and Chanshik watch Daehyun with seriousness, eyebrows furrowing in focus, trying to make sense of his verbal charade. When they see that Daehyun is spelling something in the air, their minds quickly work to see the strokes and realize that Daehyun is talking about a person that Kyungsoo has a crush on. When they understand the “hiding” gesture, there is a sound of delighted “ohhhh” in unison as they look to Kyungsoo. It makes Kyungsoo bring his hands to his face in despair. _Why is this my life?_

Dasom nudges Kyungsoo on the shoulder, “It’s cute! Who is this Joonmyeon then?”

“Jussomeonewemetthismorningwhoactuallyisabrotherofmybrother’sboyfriend,” Kyungsoo mutters in one breath, looking down.

Chanshik and Dasom’s faces drop when they hear an unintelligible long ramble. “Whoa,” chuckles Chanshik, “slow down there. Say that one more time?”

Kyungsoo inhales and exhales, this time speaking normally and signing for Daehyun. He glares at his best friend, who is smiling contendedly. “Joonmyeon’s someone Daehyun and I met this morning; he turns out to be a brother of my brother’s boyfriend. He’s…two years older than us, majoring in journalism.”

“Oooh, does he know you have a crush on him?” Dasom asks.

“I…don’t know…See, after we met this morning, for the first time in person, though we’ve heard about each other from our brothers before…he already started…you know…” Kyungsoo trails off.

Chanshik and Dasom watch Kyungsoo with expectation on their faces, not sure where Kyungsoo is leading them. Daehyun is amused watching Kyungsoo.

“…being all touchy-feely with me,” Kyungsoo ends lamely.

Awkward moment of silence falls on the group.

“Uhh…as in… _touchy_ -feely or touchy- _feely­_?” Chanshik asks warily.

Kyungsoo looks up at Chanshik in a deadpanned look. “What? Um…first one? He’s not trying to feel me up, just…he’s very touchy.”

“He likes you,” says Dasom with a tone of finality. Kyungsoo looks at her, cocking one eyebrow, “You think?”

“Yeah, because he seems to be really bold doing that after your first meeting. Let it roll, Kyungsoo. You’ll find out.” Dasom smiles at him.

 


	10. Bang Bang at the Moon.

“Alright, class dismissed, everyone. Don’t forget to read pages 341 – 543 for Thursday. I think…we _might_ have a pop quiz, _maybe_.”

The sound of students rustling to get out of class causes Yongguk to wake with a start, lifting his cradled head from his arm on the desk. _The hell, I fell asleep?!? Crap, how did I even fall asleep in this class?!,_ he panics, looking around. He is a bit relieved seeing a few others who are still napping, oblivious to the hustle and bustle of the classroom. However, it does not comfort him with the fact that he _fell asleep_ for the _first_ _time_ during a professor’s lecture on music theory.

 _Well, it was a pretty_ monotonous _lecture, but I should have been alert anyway because I was taking not- oh shit, the notes._ He looks down at his notes and his hand. The pen has disappeared from his hand and his notes read, _“There are three types of court/ritual music in traditional music: Aak, Dang-ak, and Hyang-a…”_ and there is a long, doodling line trailing from the Hangul “A” character. Yongguk notes that that must be the point where he fell asleep and lost grip of his pen. He looks down to the big set of 3 chalkboard panels, where the teacher is erasing the first panel on the left. _No no no no no, please do NOT get to the second board until I’m done,_ Yongguk freaks out and scans the board to see where the professor wrote about traditional court music. Finding it on the bottom half of the second panel, he groans that he missed out a lot of notes to catch up. He looks under his desk to find his pen almost teetering near the edge of the steps, so he quickly grabs it before it can totter over. He squints at the board as he hurriedly writes down the notes before the teacher moves on to the second board to erase it. _Ack, okay whew, can’t stop now better get that third panel now,_ he thinks to himself, his eyes glancing up and down quickly, between his notebook and the board. He notices that he has very sloppy writing when he rushes, but he tells to himself, _I’ll figure this out later, anyway._ His poor hand becomes too slow to copy the third panel’s notes when the teacher comes to the third panel, obstructing his view, and starts erasing it. Defeated, Yongguk lets his hand fall to the side, glaring at the professor’s back.

A notebook is carelessly tossed on Yongguk’s desk, startling him from his glare. He looks down at the notebook and sees the initials “M.H.C.” _Ohoho, well this changes things. I didn’t have to go up to him like how I planned at first. Changing tactics now,_ Yongguk thinks to himself. Instead of glaring at Himchan and bickering with him to anger him, he decides to flirt with him.

Figuring out whom the notebook belongs to, Yongguk smirks and says without looking up, “So have you come to aid me, princess? That’s awfully kind of you, though it should have been the other way around.” He then looks up to see Himchan, who is staring down with a slightly irritated look. “I am ever in your debt, O most Honorable One.” _Up close, he’s almost too pretty. Like a princess, a pretty princess._

“Listen,” snaps Himchan. “First of all, I am doing you a favor by saving your ass in this class, even though I don’t really know you.” Yongguk sighs, a smile itching on his face. “Second of all, the professor doesn’t like students sleeping, and he called your name three times. Three _freaking_ times. You didn’t answer; I had to make an excuse for you, saying that you had a rough night due to family issues.” Yongguk’s jaw slackens and he goggles at Himchan. _Mr. Traditional Music Princess lied to the professor? Ohhh damn…_ Yongguk gathers his materials, including Himchan’s notebook, and stuffs them in his backpack before standing up and slinging it over his shoulder.

“Third, you better be freaking careful with my notebook, because I will kill you if you ever rip a page. I see any kind of evident damage, no matter how small or big, so help me, God,” Himchan warns, finger jabbing at Yongguk’s chest. Yongguk looks at Himchan’s finger and back up at the owner, cocking his eyebrow. Brushing past Himchan, he goes to walk up the stairs, smirking as he murmurs, “Whatever you say, pretty princess.”

“Hey! And fourth, would you _stop_ calling me _princess_? Do I look like a girl to you, honestly? I have short-cropped hair. Look, see? See??” Himchan scrambles up the stairs to stand in front of Yongguk, pointing at his own head.

“Aw, you’re so freakin’ adorable when you get so demanding and throw a fit, Himchannie. I like my partners demanding.” Yongguk shoots a wink and a gummy smile at Himchan.

Himchan makes a noncommittal noise in his throat, and gawks at Yongguk. The slight red tint on Himchan’s face does not do any good for him, as Yongguk continues to move past him, the gummy smile still plastered on his face. “Thanks for the notebook. Did you put your number on it, perhaps?”

Himchan sputters, “What. No. Psh, as if I would give you my number!” His yell attracts some students’ attentions as they walk around him to leave the classroom.

“Erm…sorry,” Himchan apologizes to the crowd as he ducks his head and follows Yongguk and the crowd outside. Once outside, Himchan sees Yongguk waiting, leaning with his back against the wall. He storms over to him and says, “You are such a…a…” He racks his brain for an alternative insulting name to say instead of the bad names.

Yongguk grins at him, waiting for him to finish his sentence. He tilts his head, teasing Himchan. “Yes, Himchannie? I am a….a…?”

“A…a…a nincompoop, yeah. A nincompoop.” Himchan nods as he says it out in English, before returning back to Korean. “And what’s with the ‘Himchannie’ now, you think we’re friends or something?”

Yongguk stares at him with a deadpanned look. “A what?”

“Nincompoop,” responds Himchan promptly. “It means a stupid or foolish person, which you are, from what I’ve noticed. Hmph.” He looks to his right to watch the students disperse outward from the classroom he and Yongguk have just exited.

Yongguk smiles, eyes glinting. “I’m a nincompoop for you then, Himmiechan~”

Himchan turns his head slowly, eyes shooting daggers. “You. Cut with the cheesiness. I am a dignified student, and I have my pride. You obviously do not have any shame. Are we not of the same age?” He slaps Yongguk’s shoulder. “Act mature, will you?”

Yongguk frowns and squints at Himchan. “Are you trying to make me feel unworthy to not get close to you on purpose?” Yongguk’s sarcasm drips a little in his mocking tone.

Himchan scoffs and studies Yongguk, eyes traveling down and up his body. He rolls his eyes. “Sorry, Casanova. I hardly even know you, like I said earlier.”

“Bang!” Yongguk replies with a slight yell and he quickly draws his hand out in a shape of a gun, pointing at Himchan. He bites his inner cheeks to refrain from laughing at the sight of Himchan looking a bit ruffled from his small outburst.

“Bang?” Himchan eyes him warily.

“You,” Yongguk breathes out as he steps closer to Himchan, his hands daringly moving down to grip on Himchan’s hips. Smirking, he intensely gazes slightly downward at Himchan’s eyes; both Himchan and Yongguk are almost the same height. For a slight moment, he sees Himchan widening his eyes in shock and his voice faltering. They stand like this for a few seconds, before Yongguk puffs at Himchan’s face, snapping Himchan out of his shock.

“YAH!” Flustered, Himchan violently shoves Yongguk away, and Yongguk steps back a few steps. A red blush floods Himchan’s face. “W-WHO…DO YOU _THINK_ YOU ARE…T-T-TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT, HUH? YOU COULD HAVE JUST SAID YOUR NAME, GEEZ. SUCH A…SEX FIEND.” Himchan does not realize that the commotion he caused has left many students looking in his direction.

Yongguk snickers as he leans back against the wall again, hands up in defeat. “Sexy fiend, Himchan? Did I hear you wrong?”  
  
“WHAT,” Himchan’s heart stops as he tries to remember quickly what he just said. _Pretty sure I said sex fiend, not sexy fiend._ His eyes shoot daggers at Yongguk, “NO I DID NOT. I called y-“

“Just messing with you, princess,” Yongguk chortles, eyes gleaming at the sight of Himchan baring his teeth, looking really annoyed. “Moon Himchan, O most Honorable One, allow me to introduce myself. My name’s Bang Yongguk.”

Himchan huffs, still blushing from earlier, “You sure have taken a liking to calling me ‘princess’. Well, Mr. _Bang_ _Yongguk_ , you better take care of my notebook and give it back to me in the same condition as it was when I gave it to you earlier. Sheesh, you’re so full of yourself. Thinking you can flatter your way through everyone.” Himchan shakes his head, annoyed.

Yongguk still stands there, with a big smile on his face lighting up again. “Only you, Himchan.”

“UGH! Leave me alone, you…you…whatever. I’ve got other more important things to do than talking with you,” Himchan turns around and goes to leave. Yongguk watches as Himchan walks away before he turns around to shout, “AND DON’T FORGET TO GIVE ME BACK MY NOTEBOOK IN PRISTINE CONDITION!”

Yongguk watches as Himchan storms off, and chuckles to himself. _Bang Yongguk 1, Moon Himchan 0._

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

**_Rustle…rustle…chatter chatter…whoosh whoosh…_ **

Jongdae is walking with Zitao, Sunwoo and Junghwan walk next to them just outside at the university quad, making their way to the University Food Court. Jongdae does not need his stick as he is walking with Zitao, elbows linked, and Junghwan and Sunwoo are joking around telling stupid jokes. Jongdae asks Junghwan after silence falls upon them, “Are you going to report to our teacher about the incident?”

“…What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Besides, it was all a misunderstanding. Zitao honestly did not show any intentions of cheating, given his reputation. Let’s put it in the past, ok?” Junghwan assures Zitao and Jongdae. They nod in reply.

“So, Sunwoo-yah, what were you doing outside of the classroom? You had came in to investigate, but what were you really doing before?” Junghwan asks Sunwoo.

“Ah, I had just got out of class early so I was on my way to meet up with Jinyoung-hyung and Dongwoo-hyung. I was surprised to hear your voice in the classroom because you are usually never around here at this time of day. You’re only here on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. I also heard Jongdae’s and wondered what was going on.”

“Oh, how do you know Jongdae, by the way?” Junghwan asks him.

“I also had him in my class last year, different from Zitao’s class though. I walked up to him first because I was interested in Braille. You know how I get with linguistics. Hahaha, isn’t that right?” Sunwoo directs his question to Jongdae. Jongdae nods, smiling at the memory of him teaching Sunwoo Braille alphabet last year.

Zitao looks past Sunwoo’s shoulders to see two figures approaching them from the side. These guys have natural handsome-looking faces, emitting cheerful and laidback auras. The taller one is waving to them and the shorter one is looking at them, at first a bit hesitant with what he sees but he later notices two familiar faces. Zitao is confused, but he squeezes Jongdae’s arm gently to let him know some people are coming up.

“Ahhh, look, Dongwoo-hyung! Guys! We’re over here! Sunwoo-yah! Junghwan-ah!” Zitao makes out the yelling from the short one. Said Dongwoo walks up to them and places both hands on Sunwoo’s shoulders.

“Eh? Oh hello, hyungdeul!” Sunwoo smiles at them.

“Mm? Who are your new friends? Good morning, my name is Shin Dongwoo,” Dongwoo nods to Jongdae and Zitao.

Jongdae asks Zitao and Junghwan, “What’s going on?”

“Ah…er…Lee Jongdae-sshi, we just ran into some friends of ours. This is Shin Dongwoo, our oldest hyung” Junghwan takes Jongdae’s hand and Dongwoo’s hand. Dongwoo looks at Junghwan questioningly but without hesitation, Jongdae touches and feels around Dongwoo’s hands before smiling at him. Dongwoo is slightly surprised at his own stupidity in realizing that Jongdae is blind. Junghwan makes to bring Jongdae to Jinyoung and introduce them.

“I got this, Junghwan-ah. My name is Jung Jinyoung, second oldest hyung, pleased to meet you.” Jinyoung bows to Zitao and seeing that Jongdae has let go of Dongwoo’s hands to find Jinyoung’s hands, he places his own hands on Jongdae’s to go through the same process that Dongwoo has gone through. Jinyoung chuckles as he slightly squirms due to his own ticklishness, but he then shakes Jongdae’s hands warmly. “It’s nice to meet you, Lee Jongdae.” Jongdae beams at him.

“Likewise, Jinyoung-sshi and Dongwoo-sshi. This here,” Jongdae lets go of Jinyoung’s hands, and with his arm still linked with Zitao’s arm, he tugs Zitao over a little, “is my friend, Huang Zitao.” Zitao bows deeply, almost pulling Jongdae with him. Jongdae giggles.

“Ah! You’re one of those math geniuses I’ve heard about! Huang Zitao, nice to finally meet you!” Dongwoo exclaims, and shakes hands with him.

Zitao widens his eyes in surprise and bows his head in gratitude, a tentative smile on his face.

“Alright, more time for chat later, let’s go to lunch! I’m hungryy~” whines Sunwoo.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

When the science professor has ended the 75-minute lab class following their 9:30AM lecture class, Jongin, Jongup and Sehun gather their materials and put them in their backpacks before heading out the door with the other students.

“Whoo, what a long class. I almost fell asleep during the lecture, gosh, that teacher is so monotonous. At least the lab wasn’t too hard to do, look at the labels on beakers and follow the directions. Good thing you have us, Jongup-goon. Man, you do things that you’re told but when you have to do it on your own, you just don’t know what to do, eh?” Jongin drapes each of his arms on Jongup’s and Sehun’s shoulders. “What say you, Jongup, wanna come with us to meet our hyungs for lunch?” Jongup ponders for a bit.

“That would be nice, Jongin…goon,” Jongup says awkwardly. “Where do you guys usually eat?”

Sehun replies, “Uhm…anywhere on campus really.  We can check out the University Food Court and see what’s there.”

“Sounds good to me, Sehun-ah. Come on!” Jongin shakes Jongup’s shoulders and the three of them make their way to their destination.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

After talking with his friend about the assignment, Joonmyeon leaves his friend to make his way to the University Food Court. On his way, he passes by the dance theater where Yixing and Luhan have just exited the building. He waves and goes up to them.

“How was dance practice? The usual, I believe?” Joonmyeon smiles warmly at them.

Luhan and Yixing nod, looking freshly showered after their intense dance practice session. “Wanna head to the Food Court? We’re so hungry, Joonie-yah. Let’s go to the Food Court, don’t feel like going to the places outside of campus today.”

Yixing asks Joonmyeon if he has seen Jongdae yet. Joonmyeon shakes his head, reminding him that Jongdae and Zitao have the Math Exam this morning. _Yixing looks really concerned, but really, Jongdae’s fine with Zitao,_ he thinks to himself. “They might already be at the Food Court waiting for us with Jongin and Sehun. Come on,” Joonmyeon assures Yixing.

Yixing nods, and the three of them march their way to the University Food Court, their stomachs rumbling for food.


	11. Lunchtime Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Lunchtime!!

Joonmyeon realizes he is wrong when they get to the Food Court. After searching the area, he, Luhan and Yixing come to a conclusion that that the others have not arrived.  They are in the outdoor courtyard surrounded by the U-shaped University Food Court that houses the air-conditioned, indoor food express stalls. There are a lot of people gathering there at noon, though some eat lunch at 11AM or 1PM. Feeling hungry after their search, Joonmyeon and the Zhang brothers go to Subway to order their foot-long sandwiches. Once they have paid for their lunches, they search for one of the huge round tables that would be empty to seat at least 10 people. The round tables are all taken, so the trio decides to go with regular tables and bring them closer together so there will be two lines of people seated. After putting down their backpacks to save seats, they begin to eat as they wait for their friends, scanning the area and chatting about their plans for the rest of the week. _Yixing still looks distracted,_ Joonmyeon thinks to himself. _He’s been keeping an eye out for Jongdae the whole time. I understand today’s the first time he hasn’t escorted Jongdae, but really, Zitao’s trustworthy. Wonder if there’s something Yixing is not telling us about._

“Yixing-ah, is there something bothering you, hmm?” Luhan asks as he puts down his sandwich, his concerned eyes watching Yixing carefully. Yixing has not even touched his food since they arrived at the table. Luhan prods him, “Yixing…Yixing. Yah, Yixing-ah, hello?” When Yixing has not heard him, Luhan resorts to slapping him upside the head. Yixing starts at the action, snapping out of his focus and looking surprised at both Joonmyeon and Luhan, as if realizing they are there for the first time.

“Hm? Uhm…shall we eat?” Yixing opens his sandwich wrapper and notices that the others have already opened theirs long before he does. “…Oh.” He brings himself to finish opening his sandwich wrapper and eat his sandwich, as Luhan and Joonmyeon look at each other and back at Yixing.

Even when Yixing is eating, he still looks around, as if suspecting something to pop out of nowhere. Only Joonmyeon knows why he is being like this.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

**_Sound of chatter gets louder and louder…_ **

As the group walks to the Food Court, Zitao scans the plaza for their group of friends; after all, Luhan told Zitao and Jongdae this morning that they would be meeting in the University Food Court.

“Hmmm, Dongwoo-hyung, Jinyoung-hyung, what do you feel like having?” Sunwoo asks.

“What you say we all get pizza?” Dongwoo suggests, a hint of excitement in his voice.

“PIZZA! YEAH! LET’S GET THE SUPREME PIZZA, HYUNGS!” Junghwan shouts, startling Jongdae who is walking between him and Zitao. “Oops, sorry Jongdae,” Junghwan scratches the back of his head, feeling conscious about himself. “I couldn’t help myself, haha. Want to join us for pizza though, hm? Zitao?”

Jongdae is about to respond when he feels a tug on his arm and hears a faint yell of his name. He shifts his head to find out where it is coming from and he feels Zitao turning his hand with palm upwards and then the familiar sensation of a calloused finger stroking characters on his palm. Jongdae makes out the names “Joonmyeon”, “Luhan”, “Yixing”, and “at two o’clock position, about 5 yards, with sandwiches”. Jongdae smiles and with his free hand, he feels around for an arm of one of his new friends. When he touches the arm, he hears a calm, gentle voice saying, “This is Jinyoung, what’s up?”

“I’m afraid that as much as Zitao and I would like the offer, our friends are already here. Zitao and I had plans to meet up with them today, anyway. But we should hang out and eat sometime in the near future. Please go ahead, maybe next time when we see each other, I’ll introduce you to them! Thanks for the walk and talk, guys. We’ll see you around!” Jongdae and Zitao bid their friends goodbye as Zitao leads Jongdae to where he sees the seated trio hogging several tables.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, the trio is watching the scene in front of their eyes. As they watch Zitao scanning the plaza, Yixing makes to stand up but stops mid-action when Luhan decides to yell out “JONGDAE! ZITAO!”. After Zitao hears the yell, he immediately finds them. Yixing sits back down as he and the others watch Zitao tug gently at Jongdae, appearing to be making some strokes on Jongdae’s palm. The trio assumes that Zitao is telling Jongdae about them. Sure enough, Jongdae talks to someone next to him, before he and Zitao bow to their friends and walk over to where Luhan, Joonmyeon and Yixing are seated.

Once the duo arrives, the trio greets them warmly, and the duo responds with a smiling nod from Zitao and a cheerful reply from Jongdae. Yixing stands up fully to draw a chair for Jongdae. He places a hand on Jongdae’s shoulder, giving it a little squeeze and a small rub of his thumb, signaling Jongdae that it is him. He then lightly taps Jongdae’s shoulder twice and nudges Jongdae’s legs from behind with the chair, and Jongdae gets the message. Sitting down, Jongdae feels Yixing’s hand leave his shoulder, catches the whiff of Yixing’s fresh scent, and then hears two chairs scraping across the floor on either side of him. Jongdae then takes off his backpack and puts it on his lap; he is about to open the flap to get his packaged meal that his brother, Minseok, had prepared him this morning, when he hears a voice talking to him.

“Chen-ah, we have some sandwiches that we got from the Subway stall. Want some?” Luhan asks, using that nickname of Jongdae as endearment.  Luhan has always been so caring towards his younger friends, especially with Sehun.

“Ah, thank you Luhan-hyung, but Minseok-hyung already prepared me food since I woke up a bit later than usual.” Jongdae searches for the Tupperware box with the rubber band wrapped around. He recognize it to be his meal box, since the rubber band is used to differentiate it from the other boxed items and mini-binders in his bag. He then takes it out, and places his backpack on the floor at his side and his lunch box on the table in front of him. He takes off the rubber band and the lid, and inhales the food. “Mmm, Minseok-hyung makes the best food. I can smell the kimchi omelette with carrots, and pickled radishes, and is that a tomato? What’s the tomato in here for?”

Yixing informs him that the tomato is part of a mini-salad he can see in the box. The box has four sections: one with kimchi omelette and rice, a side dish of pickled radishes, a mini-salad, and orange wedges.

“Minseok-hyung sure likes to spoil you because you’re such a handsome prince, Chen-ah,” Joonmyeon jokes with Jongdae. This makes Jongdae chuckle. “It’s quite a delicious meal you have. Better than our sandwiches, really.” Joonmyeon looks between Luhan’s, his, and Yixing’s sandwiches. He looks at Zitao, wondering if he has his lunch or if he is buying lunch, but he gets his answer once he sees Zitao retrieving his lunch box from his laptop bag, and opening a Tupperware container with fried tilapia and brown rice inside.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

“So this is ‘G’ right? …And this is ‘D’?”

“Did I do it right? The ‘Ch’ letter? My…name…is…Gonngg…Ch…..annnshik.” [MY NAME fs<GANG JONSIK>] “Yeah? Yeah??” Chanshik says to Daehyun with an excited face, hoping that he got his name correct.

Around noontime, Dasom and Chanshik are learning the alphabet from Kyungsoo and Daehyun as they head towards the University Food Court. Daehyun smiles at Chanshik, and chuckles as he shakes his head. [LITTLE-BIT], He indicates to Chanshik which letters were mixed up. [fs<GONG CHANSIK>] He spells it slowly so that Chanshik can review and remember better in his next attempt to fingerspell his name. At the same time, Kyungsoo is watching Dasom spell her name and assisting her in demonstrating which letter is which. Dasom, like Chanshik, has messed up on her spelling with ‘G-i-m R-o-s-a-m’ and not ‘G-i-m D-a-s-o-m’.

Both Kyungsoo and Daehyun understand how tricky it is to remember some signs and to connect them to the right letters, because some of the hand structures are similar. When they first learned them back when they were young, they had a hard time understanding them too. They explain interactively and visually, tracing the patterns of hangul characters on the fingers. After reviewing the alphabet once, or twice, Dasom and Chanshik get the hang of spelling their names right and try spelling their mentors’ names. They then experiment spelling their other friends’ names, along with other general words.

“Oh, there’s Jihyun-unnie!” Dasom exclaims. “Kyungsoo, Daehyun, Chanshik, I had a great time talking with you guys! It was fun working with you guys in class, we should keep working together, or at least keep in touch. Here’s my number,” she takes out a scratch paper to write her number and gives it to Chanshik, since Kyungsoo’s hands are occupied in interpreting for Daehyun. She walks backward toward her best friend as she continues, “You guys text me and tell me who you are, because sometimes I forget later in the day to add numbers and then I don’t know which number belongs to whom. Hahaha, anyway, bye! Enjoy your lunch! Oh, and I promise that I will practice my alphabet so I can get the letters right and, who knows, maybe I will be able to do more than just spelling sentences!” Dasom then turns around to meet with her best friend, who looks really tall compared to Dasom, but not as tall as Chanshik, and has a dirty blonde hair tied up in a bun. Said Jihyun is texting on her cell phone when she hears Dasom calling her name again, and looks up. She looks a bit mad when the guys hear her say, “YAH! You didn’t answer your phone. I’ve texted you like 4 times! I was worried, you know.”

Kyungsoo and Chanshik look at each other before Kyungsoo shifts his eyes to Daehyun and tells him what they heard. Daehyun raises his eyebrows, and the three of them look back at the scene with Dasom and Jihyun. Dasom seems to be unaffected by her best friend’s shout because she has a happy face as she turns around, directing Jihyun’s attention to look at the guys. Right on cue, the three guys wave at the girls and Jihyun’s face contorts from a frown to a smile. Dasom then shows her the alphabet she learned and Jihyun has a look of shock and awe before she tries it herself.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

**_Chatter gets louder and louder as they approach the Food Courtyard…Whoosh whoosh of the breeze leafing through the courtyard._ **

**_Some students are playing around, some are necking, and some are whispering and discussing whatever their topics are. The guys and girls are intermingling everywhere._ **

They walk a little further, finally arriving at the University Food Courtyard, before Kyungsoo and Chanshik hear a name being called.

“Chanshik-ah! Over here!”

Chanshik looks over to his right and sees his best friends, Dongwoo, Jinyoung, Sunwoo and Junghwan, standing in line together for pizza and waving to the trio. Chanshik waves back and hollers to them that he would be right there in a second. He turns to face Daehyun and Kyungsoo and asks them if they will like to join him and his friends for pizza, but Daehyun shakes his head with an apologetic smile. Kyungsoo too shakes his head, explaining that Daehyun is lactose intolerant, so he is trying to stay away from most dairy products, and that they already have a group of friends that might be waiting for them. Kyungsoo thanks Chanshik for the offer, and Chanshik thanks both of them for the lessons. Chanshik, having already copied Dasom’s number to his cell phone earlier, writes his number under Dasom’s writing on the scratch paper before giving it to Kyungsoo.

“That’s my number right there, and I don’t mind texting either. Just make sure to put your names in the texts, like Dasom said. We’ll see each other on Thursday, yeah? Catch you guys later!” Chanshik makes his way towards his friends standing in line.

Kyungsoo and Daehyun are left to find their group, and so they scan the court for the couple consisting of a tall guy and a shorter guy, and the three friends: one blond-haired, one dirty blond-haired and a red-haired. Walking a little forward, Daehyun spots their group, except Yongguk, near the fruit smoothie stall. He leads Kyungsoo to the group and they greet their brothers and friends. Daehyun asks the group if they have seen Yongguk and Baekhyun tackles the question, saying that they have been there for the past 15 minutes – it is 12:10PM – since their professors let them out early.

“Yongguk-hyung should be on his way by now, if he isn’t here yet,” Baekhyun concludes. He then proceeds to take a sip from his strawberry banana fruit smoothie. Youngjae has his peanut butter chocolate fruit shake, he has argued in the past that chocolate is a fruit as well as a drink, so he might as well have dessert as part of lunch anyway. “Who can resist chocolate, anyways?” Youngjae asks rhetorically. JB has his mango berry gush smoothie, while Chanyeol settles with watermelon refresher with coconut water. They have also bought some flatbread sandwiches from the same fruit smoothie shoppe.

Daehyun and Kyungsoo go to order their fruit smoothies and lunches, and once they have gotten their orders, they return to the table and find Yongguk making his way to them.

[HEY Y-G <HYUNG>! v(WHERE YOU)v “?” WE ALL THOUGHT YOU VANISH #OR SOMEONE “TACKLE-YOU-TO-GROUND” LIKE fs(DAVID GOLIATH) “SLINGSHOT-KNOCK”]  _ (Hey there, Yongguk-hyung! Where were you? We all thought you had vanished or that someone took you down like David took down Goliath),  _ Daehyun greets Yongguk, ending it with a jokingly facial expression. Youngjae laughs and adds in, [#OR MAYBE MEET SOMEONE BIG POWER YOU *Youngjae makes a scared face* “HEAD-SINK-TO-NECK”]  _ (Or maybe he met someone bigger and powerful than him to put him to shame). _

“Ay, ma…watch it. Nobody compete with me out here, y’all hear? Anyway, nahh, guys, I got a target on someone today, and I’ll try to get him to like me by the end of this month.” [FSH, #DUDE. NONE HERE TRY BEAT-ME, ^(UNDERSTAND)^ *He brushes off imaginary dust on his shoulder* ANYWAY, NO, TODAY TRY FLIRT-WITH SOMEONE. HOPE END-MONTH SUCCEED]. Yongguk goes to sit down next to Youngjae and JB, across from Daehyun, Kyungsoo and the BaekYeol couple as he talks. He ends with a smirk on his face.

Youngjae seems skeptical,  _ That’s in like 10 days from now _ . He reminds Yongguk as he signs for Daehyun, “You have your girlfriend, though, remember? Unless you wanna handle three-way relationships, it’s up to you. I have no say in that whatsoever; I’m fine with who you are and who you are with anyway, hyung…Just be aware of what you’re doing.”

Yongguk scoffs at Youngjae, “Being bisexual is pretty much the life for me; I like both girls and guys. I don’t have to choose one or the other. I can show them how I can give both of them affection and attention equally; but if one doesn’t respect me for who I am, the-“

“Yonggukie~” A female comes up behind Yongguk and covers his eyes with her small hands.

The group looks up behind Yongguk to see a beautiful gal with a naturally good-looking small face, wavy brown hair, and foxy eyes. She has a smile on her face that makes her seem angelic. The woman has her laptop bag slinging on her side, and a smoothie cup cradled in the hook of her elbow. Kyungsoo, Baekhyun and Chanyeol have seen her a few times around on campus, but they do not know who she really is. The others, on the other hand, know who she is: Song Jieun, a music grad student like Yongguk, a best friend of Sunhwa and Hana, and the girlfriend of Yongguk.

Yongguk recognizes the voice and the touch of her hands, and he greets her warmly as he removes her hands from his face gently and turns around, “Hey babe~ Haven’t heard from you all weekend, I missed you.” He pulls her down to his lap and gives her a peck on the cheek, and Jieun blushes as she glances at the group, raking her fingers through the lower ends of her hair. She is very shy about PDAs, especially Yongguk’s public displays of affection, even if it is a mere gesture. The group does not mind the couple, and so they greet her comfortably.

“Oh, Jieun-noona, this is Park Baekhyun, Kim Chanyeol and Park Kyungsoo. Guys, this is Song Jieun-noona. Jieun-noona is a music grad, like Yongguk-hyung. Kyungsoo and Daehyun are in the same journalism major, while Baekhyun, me, and JB are in the same music major. Chanyeol is a theater major. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun are old friends of ours from elementary school and we just recently reconnected a few weeks ago. Chanyeol is Baekhyun’s boyfriend, by the way.” Youngjae introduces the parties, while Baekhyun interprets for Daehyun’s sake. The two parties nod respectfully. “Kyungsoo is the deaf brother, but since he has hearing aids, he can talk and read lips.”

Jieun, despite being Yongguk’s girlfriend for the past two years as well as being Sunhwa’s best friend, knows only a few signs and several letters. She finds it awkward for her hands to form letters and signs, so she would often resort to paper-pen communication with Daehyun if she is without Sunhwa, Yongguk or Youngjae. She is incredibly patient, one of her traits that Yongguk finds appealing about her.

“Ahh~ I see, pleased to meet you all. Yongguk, what was that I heard about girls and guys? Did you find some guy…or another girl?” Jieun eyes him warily as she sets her smoothie on the table. She knows about Yongguk’s bisexuality, and she has no problem with it. As long as Jieun finds the guy, that Yongguk flirts with, to either be devilishly handsome, or good-natured to temper with Yongguk’s brash personality. She likes to think of it as an alliance with a guy to keep Yongguk in control. However, if it is with another girl, it is a different story.

“Ah no, Jieun, there’s this guy that I have my eyes on. He’s in music as well, and he seems very egoistic about music. He claims to have traditional instruments in his family’s house. This morning, our professor played some kind of weird stuff like the guitar’s grandfather and the drum’s great-great grandmother. Out of everyone in the classroom, this guy was the only one who knew the style of music  _ and _ identified the instruments down to the detail.

“At first I was irritated with him, but when he turned around after he introduced himself to the professor, he looked right at me. And shit, man, he’s too frickin’ pretty to be a man, yet he has this air of manliness about him. And I was like all this, and he was like all that,” Yongguk reenacts the scene from this morning’s class lecture, also signing at the same time for Daehyun.  When he gets to the part where he says “I was like all this and he was like all that”, he imitates the faces he and Himchan did. It got the whole group laughing. Jieun however is smiling, thinking of who this mystery man is. Yongguk chuckles a bit at the sight of his girlfriend and his group of friends. He brings his hand to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment.

“Er…yeah, so I kinda fell asleep in class – YAH don’t you give me that look, Youngjae, that professor was talking so monotonously today, I swear it’s hard to keep awake in that class – and after class, this guy came to me and told me that he saved my ass by lying to the professor that I had a rough night. We talked some more, I flirted with him a lot than I should have because, shit, he is just too frickin’ pretty and handsome at the same time. I even called him “princess” a few times and he got riled up about it. He was pretty adorable too. Anyway, he gave me his notebook so I can catch up on the notes. I gotta give it back to him on Thursday, ‘ _ in pristine condition or else’. _ ” Yongguk laughs as he does the air-quote gesture with his hands, and then stares slightly into space at the memory.

“Hmm, sounds like a dreamy guy~,” Jieun nudges sideways at Yongguk, chuckling. “What’s his name, Guk-ah?”

Just when Yongguk is about to reply, there is a shout of “JONGUPPIE~!!!” behind him. Yongguk looks to his left as Jieun does the same at the noise.

Daehyun wonders why everyone in his group and some people around them are looking in the same direction. Kyungsoo places his hand on Daehyun’s arm, getting his attention, and informs him that someone was yelling to someone. He points to the source ten yards from where they are. Daehyun cranes his neck to see.

Jieun goggles at the handsome man standing near the table, his hands cupping his mouth in a form of a megaphone. Next to him, there appears to be another person occupying one of the benches. She does not recognize the wavy purple hair, but the  _ face _ , the woman’s face looks so familiar with that gummy smile of hers. She notices several lunch bags on the table before she looks back up at the standing man, studying his face before realizing who he is.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Yongguk looks back at the group with a gleeful smirk, “That’s him right there. Moon. Him. Chan,” just as Jieun has uttered his name at the same time. Yongguk raises his eyebrow at her in mild shock, “You know him?”

Jieun is still staring at the man, as if in a trance, yet she answers Yongguk promptly, conscious of her state. “Yes, almost everyone talks about this guy. The way he holds himself as a dignified student, and it’s true that he has the traditional musical instruments in his family’s house. My gosh, Yongguk,  _ he came to you this morning?!”  _ Jieun whirls around to face Yongguk, snapping out of her daze and looking at him with awed disbelief. Yongguk looks at her as if she is some crazed fangirl. “Um…yeah, babe. He did.” Yongguk glances at his group, who are all looking back at him with raised eyebrows and a smile on their faces.

“What, why are you guys looking at me like that for?” When Yongguk gets no reply, only some shaking of heads, he gets slightly irritated. “What, you guys?” He looks back at Himchan, who is cupping his mouth to shout again in that deep, rich voice.

“JONGUPPIE-YAH, OVER HERE, HYUNG’S GOT SOME FOOD FOR YOU! LOOK TO THE RIGHT. I’M WAVING. AISH, CAN’T YOU SEE ME WAVING?”

Yongguk winces and notices Moon Himchan who is jumping up and down, waving – more like  _ flailing  _ – his arms. Finally, it seems that Himchan to have gotten said Jongup’s attention because he lowers his arms and Himchan suddenly feels someone watching him. Himchan turns his head and suddenly makes eye contact with Yongguk. Himchan suddenly jerks, bit startled, causing Yongguk to guffaw behind closed lips and puffed cheeks, his shoulders shaking. Yongguk attempts to make a straight face, but Himchan retorts by shooting a look of scorn and sticking out his tongue at him. Yongguk seems unaffected, shaking his head with a smile on his face, but very amused at his manners.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Jongup is walking with Jongin and Sehun when they find the group of Jongin and Sehun’s friends. The trio is about to walk over before Jongin holds Jongup back for a moment. Jongin explains to Jongup that there is something he should know before meeting the group.

“Two of my friends are interesting people when you meet them. I need your promise that you will be mindful of who they are and what they do. One of the two friends is blind and the other one is mute, so please don’t make it a big deal, okay?” Jongin stares downward at Jongup because of the height difference, his hands on Jongup’s shoulders, making sure he has gotten Jongup’s full attention. Jongup stares back up at him, giving away no sign of confusion or comprehension. He blinks a few times before nodding slowly and says “Okay, no problem.” Sehun stares from behind Jongin, passively watching the scene.

Jongin nods once before taking his hands off Jongup’s shoulder and leading the way. When Jongup meets his new friends, he bows to each and every one of them. He notices that two friends, true to what Jongin said earlier, have slightly different reactions. A short guy does not seem to acknowledge the bow and stares straight ahead. Jongup can see the faint cloudy eyes. The other guy, although the others have said “hi” and “welcome”, makes no sounds, he only smiles and nods once at Jongup. When he meets Jongdae, he shyly moves forward without anyone telling him to do so, and, to everyone’s surprise, he extends his hand and prods gently at Jongdae’s subtly outstretched hands. Jongdae almost retracts his hands from the sudden move before returning and feeling around Jongup’s hand. Once Jongdae finishes, he shakes Jongup’s hand, and Jongup uses his free hand to pat on their joined hands in respect, smiling sheepishly. When it is time to meet Zitao, Jongup bows and shakes his hand, not showing any disrespect or making a blunt move to question Zitao’s muteness. Joonmyeon asks Jongup if he would like to join them for lunch, but Jongup politely declines with the bright smile on his face. He explains that his hyung is around here at the Food Court, already having bought the food. Just as Jongup bows to Joonmyeon, the group hears a yell from somewhere near their location.

“JONGUPPIE~!!”

Everyone in the group and Jongup look around to see where the source is coming from.

“JONGUPPIE-YAH, OVER HERE, HYUNG’S GOT SOME FOOD FOR YOU! LOOK TO THE RIGHT.”

Jongup blinks as he concentrates on finding the source, his eyes constantly scanning the hustling and bustling students in the food court.

“I’M WAVING. AISH, MOON JONGUP, CAN’T YOU SEE ME WAVING?”

Jongup starts to focus on anyone who is waving, and then he feels a tap on his shoulder. He looks to his left to see Zitao pointing. Jongup follows the direction and he immediately finds his brother. He waves excitedly before turning around to thank Zitao and thank the others. Jongup tells them that next time, he can bring his brother over and they can eat together with the group. He then departs and makes his way to his hyung.

“HYUNG! What did you get for us??” Jongup runs towards Himchan, about to hug his brother when he sees him sticking his tongue out at someone and  _ sneering _ . He slows to a stop and wonders to himself,  _ He has never acted this childish before _ . “Ah, hi, Hyosung-noona!” He immediately captures a sight of wavy purple hair and a gummy smile on a busty young woman sitting next to his hyung. Hyosung is Himchan’s girlfriend, who is a sweetheart and also funny. Even though she has already graduated the previous year at a different college as a Dance Grad student, she still visits Himchan and Jongup to have lunch with them.

“Jonguppie~ Aigoo, aigoo~ You’re such a cutie patootie! Sit next to noona! Omo, you’ve changed your hairstyle. Looking to impress someone, mm?” Hyosung waves at Jongup and beckons him to sit next to her. Obedient as he is, he takes his place next to Hyosung. Jongup laughs and shakes his head. He enjoys her company, but his main concern is his brother acting childishly.

“Hyung, what’s wrong?” Jongup tugs at his brother’s arm. Himchan, still standing, is startled and he turns around to see Jongup looking up innocently at him. He moves slightly to wrap his arms softly around Jongup’s shoulders. Himchan pats Jongup’s head before letting go.

“Oh, it’s just that jerk from my morning class,  _ Bang Yong Guk _ , who was flirting with me like Romeo when all I did was giving him my notebook so he could catch up!” Himchan sighs dramatically, sitting down opposite his brother and his girlfriend. He glances at Jongup and asks him, “Where were you? We were waiting for you for the past 10 minutes.”

“Oh…er…I…met some new friends from my first year dancing class! Their names are uh… Kim…Jongin and…Taehu – uhm I mean, Sehun. They’re twin brothers. They also introduced me to their group, over there! See?” Jongup points to the group seated far behind Himchan and waves, so Himchan turns around to see the group waving back. “They’re awfully nice, one is a sweet guy – Lee Jongdae, I believe? – he’s blind. And there is another guy who is mute, uhm…something like Hwang…Jito? Zito? Zitao! Yeah, Huang Zitao. I think one is Joonmyeon, another is Eesing? Yixing?, and the other one is Ruhan.” He continues to babble excitedly, with his contemplative and bright personality infecting Hyosung and Himchan in a matter of seconds, leaving them with big grins on their faces.

“But hyung, who’s Bang Yongguk? Maybe…he was a bit too grateful for you to save him from the trouble this morning. What does he look like, though?” Jongup looks curiously between Hyosung and his hyung. Hyosung rakes her hand through Jongup’s hair almost as if she wants to calm him down from all the excessive talking. His personality and appearance makes him endearing and cute, and, despite Jongup’s age, she cannot pass up the opportunity to mother him.

Himchan takes his lunch bag that has his name on it, and then wordlessly passes the other bag to Jongup while Hyosung gets her bag from the middle of the table. He replies to his brother with a nod to his right, in Yongguk’s direction. Jongup looks to his left and tries to find him among the crowded, blurred people in his sights. “He’s the one with red hair, sitting next to a girl with brown hair,” he hears Himchan mutter. Jongup finally catches the red-haired man and goes, “oh”. He looks back at Himchan before he does a double take.

**_Hands are flurrying and there are emotions constantly changing on his face. Dirty blond hair, thick lips and handsome features…Looking between a guy, who is apparently Yongguk judging from the red hair, and someone next to the mysterious person. An expression of glee shows on the mysterious person’s face as the whole group laughs._ **

“Hyung, Hyosung-noona…do you know who are the others? What are they doing and why are they like that?” Jongup is unaware that the words start falling out of his mouth, and both Hyosung and Himchan hear the question before looking at each other. Jongup seems to be in a daze. All he can see is the guy with the thick lips and his hands moving so fast. Somewhere in his blurred-out vision, where said mysterious guy is the only clear object of focus, there are others who are moving their hands and few others who do not. They continue like this, and everyone is looking back and forth at each other.

Himchan and Hyosung look over to Yongguk and the group’s location, and Himchan’s breath hitches. They stare in shock for two different reasons; Hyosung in shock that she recognizes the woman she has not seen for a long time, not since high school, and Himchan in shock at Yongguk’s change in personality compared to what he saw this morning.

_ Oh my god, Yongguk seems so much nicer, very genuine and somewhat more carefree than this morning. Is this the same Yongguk, or am I imagining things? My god, his hands. Whoa wait, what the heck am I thinking?  _ Himchan shakes his head out of his stupor, realizing he has been staring at Yongguk a bit too long.  _ What the heck was that? Why was I thinking about his hands?! I’m straight! I have Hyosung! He’s...straight…isn’t he? He has that girl. But his hands, they’re so fluid and…the way his expressions are full of emoti- whoa stop right there, Moon Himchan. But I can’t contain myself from thinking about Yongguk’s moving body parts, *mental gasp* that sounded so wrong just now. _ Himchan makes an inward revolted face while still staring at him.

_ Whoa whoa whoa wait, what the heck is wrong with you, my fast-beating heart? Can’t you be still? Actually on a second thought, don’t be still. I’d rather not die…just go slower than now, please. GOSHDANGIT.  _ Himchan places his hand gently on his chest, where his heart continues to beat rapidly and he feels his stomach twisting in all the wrong places.  _ No no no, I cannot be in love with him, nor should I have FEELINGS for the guy, I mean, LOOK AT HIM.  _ His eyes quickly dart at Hyosung, before resting his eyes back on Yongguk once again.  _ But thinking back to this morning, his voice was so sexy, I just wanna drown in it like chocola- what the fudge? NO STOP. STOP. _

Himchan takes an involuntary shuddering gasp and looks back at Jongup, who is looking meekly at his older brother and stealing glances to his left, and at Hyosung, who is observing Himchan with her eyebrow raised and her eyes showing concern.

“I-it’s nothing. I just…kind of remembered…something for the weekend.” Himchan cannot believe he told a fib to his girlfriend, to his best friend that he trusts. He pretends to scratch his forehead so that with his hand covering part of his face, Hyosung cannot perceive the glance that Himchan shoots at Yongguk.

Jongup opens his lunch bag and takes out his brother’s homemade Panini sandwich, which has eggplants in it. Himchan also has a Panini but with julienned Portobello mushrooms in it. They eat with their minds deep in thoughts about whom they had just seen, while Hyosung sits, watching them with concern. The Moon brothers ever so slowly, but surely, like a drop of hot burning sauce into a bowl of soup, start feeling flustered at the thought of them itching – no,  _ wanting –  _ to know more about their crushes; their curiosity getting the best of them as they keep glancing at Yongguk and the mysterious male student sitting across from him.


	12. Lunchtime Pt. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A melding of two groups.

Kyungsoo is eating his flatbread pizza and talking with Daehyun when he feels he is being watched. He brushes off the feeling, he is used to people staring at him all the time when he is with Daehyun or Baekhyun, signing with a flurry of hands. He continues to chat with the group, joking with Daehyun in their own little world and conversing with his brother, but there is that nagging feeling that someone is watching him. Sneaking an opportunity to not get caught by his group for looking around suspiciously, he scans the area and stops mid-action.

A male student is staring at Kyungsoo. Brown hair, with a face that gives off a pure innocence but somewhat masculine feeling, and  _ those eyes _ . The eyes with these slight folds on the upper eyelids. The tan skin he has makes him look all the more like a god, an eye candy.

Kyungsoo’s breath hitches in his throat, not sure if he has seen the student before. He looks away quickly, just in time to see Daehyun turning around to face him after talking with Youngjae, JB, Yongguk and Jieun about their classes. Kyungsoo trusts that Daehyun has not told the group about Joonmyeon, because if they heard about the incident from this morning, the group would have paid extra attention to Kyungsoo. Daehyun asks Kyungsoo if something is wrong, he can feel Kyungsoo nervously fidgeting and tensing up next to him. Kyungsoo hastily shakes his head. Daehyun seems unconvinced and gives him a long stare, scanning Kyungsoo’s face for any giveaways. Finding none, he nods slowly and signs [#OKAY], giving his hand a slight bounce and a slow downward motion. Kyungsoo gives him a tight-lipped smile, just as Baekhyun taps him on the shoulder. Daehyun does not press any further questions as he notices the tap, and Kyungsoo, holding up a ‘wait a moment’ signal, whirls around to face Baekhyun and Chanyeol. He sees Baekhyun in the arms of Chanyeol, his back against Chanyeol’s chest. Daehyun then turns to face his brother and friends as he waits for Kyungsoo to finish his talk with the couple. Chanyeol informs Kyungsoo that he is inviting Baekhyun and Kyungsoo to his place next week, because he had talked to Jonghyun this morning about their connection to Jinki.

“I’m sure Jinki-hyung will be glad to meet you guys, the brothers of one of his top favorite performers at his workplace!” Chanyeol seems ecstatic. “How does next week sound? I’ll pick you guys up and we’ll head to my house, you guys can meet the rest of my siblings, and have dinner there.”

“Uhm…hmm,” Kyungsoo ponders on the offer, as he starts to stray his eyes away from the couple and happens to land at the same person from earlier. The student’s eyes are still on him, but this time, he appears to be eating ramen. Kyungsoo averts his eyes to look back at the couple.

“Uh, sure, why not? I mean, yeah, I’ll take the offer. That sounds lovely,” Kyungsoo says, a little distracted. Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s eyebrows twitch in slight confusion at the response and they look at each other with a small shrug.

“Okay, it’s settled then! Babe, I’ll pick you guys up next week Thursday afternoon after classes?” Chanyeol gives a light peck on Baekhyun’s cheek. Baekhyun nods as Kyungsoo watches them with a small smile.

“Yup, Kyungsoo, I think your class ends at 3:30PM, yeah?” Baekhyun shoots a questioning glance at Kyungsoo. When Kyungsoo nods, Baekhyun smiles and wheels his head around to face Chanyeol before giving him a kiss on the lips. Glancing away to give them privacy, Kyungsoo subtly checks back on the guy. His eyes widen; the same student is still watching him. Kyungsoo wonders if this guy has even looked away from him. His brow furrows in a mixture of curiosity and wonderment.

Kyungsoo suddenly feels self-conscious about himself.  _ Do I have something in my hair? On my face? _ , he worries in his head. His hands are twitching to touch his face but he does not want the others to be suspicious of what he is doing. He pretends to look around some more but no matter where he looks, from the corners of his eyes, the student is still staring at him, causing Kyungsoo to blush. Finally, he decides to stare back as an act of challenge, for his pride’s sake. After maintaining eye contact for a while, the guy smiles, and finally his brown eyes glance away. When he looks back at Kyungsoo, Kyungsoo flicks his eyebrows up to say,  _ Ha, I win _ .

The mysterious student smirks and turns his head to face his friend, as his friend leans to ask him something. Kyungsoo, out of curiosity, moves a little sideways to see who the friend is, and receives a shock.

It is the student from this morning, the senior in Journalism.  _ Kim Joonmyeon. _

Joonmyeon receives his answer in a form of a nod in Kyungsoo’s direction, and then Joonmyeon follows the direction of his friend’s nod. Still in shock, Kyungsoo is not aware that Joonmyeon has spotted Kyungsoo and is gently waving at him with the smile on his face. When he comes out of his daze, Kyungsoo reddens and looks away, remembering that Joonmyeon has given him his phone number that morning. He closes his eyes in defeat, knowing that he has to give Joonmyeon his phone number. He takes out his phone and the paper containing Joonmyeon’s phone number to text him his own phone number, doing it as discreetly as possible.

Daehyun, who has just finished listening to Youngjae talk about his classes, turns to see Kyungsoo texting. One downward glance to Kyungsoo’s hands gets him chuckling and playfully teasing his friend. Baekhyun catches Daehyun chuckling at Kyungsoo and finds Kyungsoo looking down, so he follows Kyungsoo’s gaze to the phone and the small strip of paper in his hand. Still in Chanyeol’s loose embrace, Baekhyun straightens up and asks Daehyun behind Kyungsoo’s back what is going on with Kyungsoo. Daehyun explains about the morning incident, and Baekhyun beams at the response. He then tells Chanyeol, and the both of them share a secret look. Daehyun’s answer has confirmed their thoughts about Kyungsoo and Joonmyeon.

“Ah, that’s right. Hyung should be around here somewhere,” Chanyeol cranes his neck to look around the crowd. He finally spots Joonmyeon and lifts one hand to wave at him. He sees that Joonmyeon is looking a little distracted, so he calls out his name. Joonmyeon is startled and scans the crowd for the source of the voice. When he finds Chanyeol waving, he waves back and Chanyeol makes gesticulations that include a lot of pointing. Chanyeoi circles his pointed hand around in front of him, points to Joonmyeon and makes a circling motion with his finger at Joonmyeon, as he mouths,  _ Can we all join you guys over there? _ Joonmyeon nods, beckoning him with a downward-facing palm.

Chanyeol announces to the group that he will take them all to meet his brother and his brother’s group of friends. Chanyeol has only met Jongdae and Zitao a few times so he informs the group of their conditions. Kyungsoo stows away his phone in his pocket as Baekhyun interprets for him and Daehyun. At first, Kyungsoo widens his eyes at the thought of meeting Joonmyeon again, but at the same time, he really wants to know who the staring guy is. When they hear about Jongdae and Zitao, they look at each other, feeling impressed about the diversity of the group. Kyungsoo’s anxiousness to meet new people goes away as everyone is more than happy to meet Chanyeol’s brother and his group. They bring their lunches over to Joonmyeon’s tables and Kyungsoo sees that the guy is no longer looking at him and is conversing with two other friends.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Jongin is enjoying his ramen noodles and watches the crowd as Sehun chats with Luhan and Yixing, and Joonmyeon chats with Jongdae and Zitao. Yixing constantly checks up on Jongdae, sometimes forgetting that he is still a part of Sehun and Luhan’s conversation. Jongin catches sight of one person doing something with his hands to another person, and decides to watch him. Jongin has never seen hands move that fast.

All of a sudden, Jongin sees the doe-eyed student looking a little bothered and then scanning his surroundings slowly, before he looks directly at Jongin.

Jongin’s heart flips and beats irregularly in his chest. His mind starts to shift gears and think about why he is feeling like this. He makes no move to calm down, only to stare at the person and analyze what is it about him that makes his heart beat irregularly.

Immediately, the student looks away and begins to converse with someone next to him, and then with a couple on the other side of him. For a while after the student has looked away Jongin still watches him, but he is aware that this student keeps sneaking glances at him. Finally, when the student stares back with a rash attitude and fierce determination, Jongin cannot resist smirking at how cute the student is being. He looks away, in time for Joonmyeon to ask him what is up.

Jongin nods his head to the direction that he is looking at, and tells Joonmyeon that he just had a stare contest with someone. Joonmyeon follows his gaze, and recognizing the student, he waves. Jongin looks at him with a small giveaway of shock and disbelief. He mutters to Joonmyeon, “Joonmyeon-hyung, who’s he? The guy that you were waving at, do you know him?”

“Hm? Oh, that’s Park Kyungsoo.” Joonmyeon smiles and nods to himself. He catches sight of a sliced green onion on the corner of Jongin’s mouth, and licking his thumb, he brushes it off with his thumb. Jongin blushes but tries to act like it is nothing. Joonmyeon chuckles, continuing on. “He’s Chanyeol’s boyfriend’s brother, twin brother I should say. He’s quite cute once you get to know him. He’s hard of hearing, actually, but he wears hearing aids. I met him this morning, along with his deaf friend, Daehyun – that’s him next to him, the one with the brown hair – and needless to say, I failed to remember my Korean letter signs. They’re both in Journalism, just two years below me. He must be quite an eyeful, now that you’ve been staring at him for some time, mm?”

Jongin fidgets a bit and side-glances at Joonmyeon, scoffing at the comment. “Hyung, what are you talking about? I wasn’t  _ staring _ at him; I was just… _ studying _ him and his behavior. There’s a difference. I have never seen anyone do that thing” – Jongin fumbles with his hands – “with their hands before.”

“I believe the term you’re looking for is  _ signing _ , Jongin-ah,” Joonmyeon points out. “They’re deaf people after all; that is their communication. Didn’t you learn the alphabet in primary school? I did.”

Jongin shakes his head. The schools he went to in the past did not have an educated society or a wide diversity of people; they were very exclusive. As he continues to  _ watch _ Kyungsoo, Jongin notices that Kyungsoo looks a little more flustered and he feels that it is completely adorable; he wants to spoil him if he can get the chance.  _ Wow, I must really like him that much, _ he thinks to himself. He smiles before remembering something that Joonmyeon said. “Hyung, he’s two years younger than you!? That means he’s a year older than me…great. So much for wanting to be a hyung.” Jongin pouts. Joonmyeon chuckles and ruffles Jongin’s head.

_Ah, Jonginnie is so cute_ , Joonmyeon mulls. _Sometimes I wonder how he can be so handsome and yet pull off a cute charm. He has this strong determination and passion in his eyes when he dances, too. But, I don’t know if I should tell him. There’s the age difference and then there’s the fact that it is two guys, me and him. I wouldn’t blame him if he finds it weird...Ah, this one-sided love._ _We have been close friends for some time; I remember when he first came to me back when I was in middle school and he was in elementary school. We were neighbors. If Jongin likes girls, that’s fine with me. If he likes guys, that’s okay as well. If it just so happens that he likes me though, I would be happy. If he does, I want to take care of him and be more than just a hyung to him._

Joonmyeon is then shaken out of his thoughts when a faint voice calls out his name. He looks around the crowd before he spots a hand vigorously waving, the owner of the hand being an auburn-haired, lanky guy with big eyes and a wide grin. He recognizes the person as his younger brother, so he waves back. Then he notices Chanyeol making gestures with only his pointed hand, pointing around his table and then point at Joonmyeon. If Chanyeol had not spoken soundlessly while pointing, Joonmyeon would not have understood what his brother wanted. However, Joonmyeon knows that Chanyeol is asking if they can join him and his bigger group, and he has no problem with that. He beckons them over and informs his group that his brother is bringing some friends over.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Kyungsoo’s nerves hit his body when he nears the table that Joonmyeon is sitting at, along with the male student that had been staring at him earlier. Now, the student glances at him, holding the eye contact as Kyungsoo stiffens on his spot, and smirks as Jongin looks away when Kyungsoo does not do anything else. Joonmyeon is oblivious to his friend’s actions, paying attention to Kyungsoo and signaling him to sit down across from them. Kyungsoo blushes and nods, taking the offer, and he goes to sit down across from Joonmyeon and the male student. The new group places their lunches on the table and finds seats to sit down. Daehyun joins Kyungsoo while Baekhyun and Chanyeol wait to be seated next to Joonmyeon, as Yongguk and JB bring in two more tables so they can sit and dine next to Daehyun with Jieun and Youngjae. Introductions are made starting from Yongguk to Kyungsoo, and then from Luhan to Sehun, with Baekhyun interpreting for Daehyun and Kyungsoo.

When it is time for Kyungsoo’s introduction, he fidgets in his seat as he nervously looks at Daehyun and then at Baekhyun before staring at his new group. He sneaks a glance at Joonmyeon and the male student, and discovers the male student to be acting indifferent to his nervous actions. It makes him even more nervous to say it out, when so many eyes are on him.

“M-my…name is P-Park K-Kyungsoo,” Kyungsoo gulps as he looks around quickly, “Second year in Journalism, same with Daehyun.” He sneaks a glance at the mysterious student and, catching the eyes of the guy watching him, he looks away immediately as he clears his throat.

Joonmyeon then takes over with leading his group’s introductions, also voicing for Zitao. When it comes to Jongin’s turn, Kyungsoo tries to avoid eye contact with the student while hearing what his name is. He cannot help himself but bring his eyes to the student’s lips when the student clears his throat. The student keeps his eyes on him when he introduces himself as Kim Jongin. Kyungsoo registers the name in his head as he averts his eyes to see Baekhyun give a clear breakdown of his name before he looks up to the eyes of Jongin.

When it goes to Sehun for the last introduction, Kyungsoo reads Sehun’s lips and is momentarily confused by Sehun’s tongue sticking out. He thinks to himself,  _ Thehun? What kind of a name is that? Maybe he means Tehun…or Taehun. _ He glances at Baekhyun and looks at him in confusion until Baekhyun repeats his spelling [fs<SEHUN>].

[fs(LISP) HAVE]  _ (Sehun has a lisp),  _ Baekhyun signs to Kyungsoo and Daehyun. Both of them have a “oh!” look on their faces, though Sehun does not catch their reactions. Jongin does, however, and he turns his head away, smiling to himself and thinking how cute Kyungsoo is being. As the group’s atmosphere slowly moves away from awkward chatter into comfortable conversation, Jongin looks back at Kyungsoo again and decides to be bold and flirt with him.

“So – ahem,” Jongin clears his throat and tests the honorifics, “Kyungsoo…hyung, do you have any hobbies you like?” Kyungsoo blinks at him.

“Uhm…yes, I do, actually. I cook, especially for my siblings. I’m the youngest…of the 5 siblings but I can dish up any delicious meal for them, they kind of call me the mom of the siblings, heh.” Kyungsoo slowly replies while signing for Daehyun. He looks between Jongin, Joonmyeon and Daehyun. His twin brother is busy in his small world with Chanyeol.

Daehyun watches between Jongin and Kyungsoo, and he starts to notice that Jongin’s behavior seems very much like flirting. He glances at Joonmyeon who is in front of him, looking very oblivious to Jongin’s flirtations, watching Kyungsoo. Youngjae and JB are chatting up with Yongguk and Jieun, often talking across the tables to Jongdae, Luhan, Sehun, Yixing, and Zitao.

Throughout the lunch break, Sehun and Zitao are the only ones quiet, being the observing, passive members in the group. Jongdae pulls Yixing and Zitao to talk with Yongguk, Jieun, Youngjae and JB, while Luhan and Sehun invite Baekhyun and Chanyeol to discuss with them.

Kyungsoo slowly pulls himself out of his comfort zone, as he, Daehyun, Joonmyeon and Jongin talk about their pasts and their current college activities. Jongin continues to be persistent with his  _ subtle  _ flirting towards Kyungsoo, from a twitch of an eyebrow to a smirk to a wink, as he jokes with Kyungsoo, Daehyun and Joonmyeon. He even bites and licks his lips right in front of Kyungsoo as he listens to what Kyungsoo has to say about his handling of learning sign language from Daehyun. Yet Kyungsoo remains oblivious to the signals, thinking that Jongin does it because his lips are dry or that there is something caught in his eyes. After all, he is often distracted when he talks and signs at the same time for Daehyun’s and Jongin and Joonmyeon’s sakes. Jongin may feel like an idiot conveying all these signals, but he really likes him a lot ever since their staring contest earlier today; he has his pride to suck up with.

Daehyun notices all these signals, so when he finds the right moment to talk to Kyungsoo privately while Jongin and Joonmyeon are not looking, he tells Kyungsoo of his observations.

[I THINK fs<JONGIN> FLIRT-YOU ALSO. LUCKY GUY *Daehyun waggles his eyebrows* THAT “EYEBROW-WAGGLE”+, “WINK”+, “LIP-CHEW” *Daehyun also imitates licking lips when Jongin and Joonmyeon are not looking*]  _ (I think Jongin may be also flirting with you. Aren’t you quite the lucky guy, eh? Jongin’s been doing all these eyebrow-wagging, winking, lip-biting and licking his lips).  _ Daehyun nudges Kyungsoo’s side with his elbow, smirking at him.

Kyungsoo stares at Daehyun as if his thoughts are pretty absurd. He shakes his head refutably, [^(HE)^ sh(NOT BELIEVE) WHY FLIRT TO ME, v(FOR-FOR)v? I NOT SAME OTHER PEOPLE OUT-THERE REAL HANDSOME #OR DATE TYPE. *Kyungsoo weakly chuckles* sh(BELIEVE NOT) fs<JONGIN> GO FIND OTHER SHOULD] Kyungsoo gives Daehyun a “are you kidding me” look. He glances at Jongin and Joonmyeon, both of them talking about their classes. _(Him? I don’t believe you…Why would he flirt with me? What’s the reason? I am not one of those people who are handsome or dating material. Heh…I don’t believe that notion at all. Jongin should find another person.)_

Daehyun raises his hands in defeat. [HEY, #IF I NOT-KNOW YOU-BEING, #IF US-TWO MEET HERE FIRST TIME, STRANGER, I *Daehyun nods thoughtfully* WANT DATE YOU. I SWEAR, ns<KYUNGSOO> *Daehyun uses Kyungsoo’s name sign to emphasize his opinion* “MISUNDERSTAND” NOT, THIS LIFE, YOU ME FRIENDS. “THAT-ALL.” I sh(NOT INTEND DATE WANT NOW) nh(JUST HERE SUPPORT-YOU FRIEND) TRUST ME, YOU fs(ARE) HANDSOME. KIND, SWEET PERSONALITY HAVE, ADD LITTLE SASS. *He winks* v(WHO DATE-YOU REFUSE)v]  _ (Hey, if we didn't know each other, if we met here on campus not knowing each other at all, I would totally date you, I’m not joking. Kyungsoo-yah, don’t misunderstand; in this life, we’re just friends, I’m not intending to say that I want to date you, I’m just giving you support as a friend. Trust me, you are good-looking and you have a kind, sweet personality, with a little sass. Honestly, who wouldn’t date you?)  _ Daehyun makes a little grunting noise that gives off a “Dude, come on, get real” attitude.

Unfortunately for Kyungsoo, Daehyun’s grunt captures Jongin and Joonmyeon’s attentions, as they look to the deaf friends with a tinge of curiosity on their faces. Kyungsoo blushes when Jongin stares at him expectantly and gives him a look that Kyungsoo does not know how to describe. Kyungsoo decides to break the ice by inquiring about their class schedules. Joonmyeon informs Kyungsoo that he has almost the same schedule layout as Kyungsoo and Daehyun do, just more advanced subjects on their major, and that he has another lecture class at 1:30PM. Jongin replies that he has another general education class at 1PM, but his dance core classes fall on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Tuesdays and Thursdays mostly have general education classes and music lectures for him and Sehun.

Zitao, on the other hand, is silently watching Daehyun and Kyungsoo signing as they communicate with Joonmyeon and Jongin. He thinks to himself,  _ if I cannot talk, and writing may be a hassle, maybe I can learn to sign and it can be another effective language for me to use in communication. _ Leaving Yixing and Jongdae with Yongguk, Jieun, JB and Youngjae, he brings his half-eaten lunch to join Joonmyeon and Jongin.

Coming in at an appropriate time when the group has finished talking about their schedules, Zitao waves softly at Daehyun and Kyungsoo as he sits across from them before taking out a mini-notepad and a pencil. He writes,  _ I am interested in learning sign language, and I would like to make better use of my hands to do a lot more than writing on paper. Will you teach me? _ He gives the mini-notepad to Daehyun and Daehyun, upon receiving it, gives him a questioning look. Zitao slightly bows his head to indicate that Daehyun and Kyungsoo should read it. Daehyun shares it with Kyungsoo so he can read what Zitao has written. Jongin and Joonmyeon are a bit curious as to what Zitao’s note contains, but they just sit and watch in fascination.

Daehyun and Kyungsoo look at each other and share a grin before facing Zitao, nodding as they look at him. Kyungsoo tells him, “We would love to teach you the alphabet and the signs. It’s gonna be a lot of practice and time to get the hang of it, but it’ll be worth learning them.” Zitao beams at them in response, and he signals them to return the mini-notepad. He scribbles,  _ I also know Morse code, would you guys like to learn it too? It can be expressed through sound, light, and vibrations. _ When his mini-notepad gets passed back to Daehyun and Kyungsoo again, they look at it in awe and Daehyun nods furiously, showing great interest in the offer. Kyungsoo returns the notepad to Zitao.

[LOVE LEARN-LEARN DIFFERENT CODE SECRET. fs(MORSE CODE) THINK SEE BEFORE “ONE-TIME”, BUT FORGET. ^(TEACH US WILL)^ “?” M-o-r-s-e C-o-d-e hear “one-time” before, but no time have. Teach us will?] Daehyun’s face changes from excitement then to a pout, and then back to excitement. Kyungsoo interprets for Daehyun, glancing at Zitao, “I love learning different secret codes! I have heard about Morse code once years back, but I never had the time to learn it. Are you seriously gonna teach us?” He adds with a smile.

Zitao nods cheerily, and he jots down another note:  _ That way, Morse code can be our secret code, especially with Jongdae. I’d like to teach him too, so the four of us will know how to understand this code. We can use it for fun or for emergency reasons. _

Kyungsoo notices that Zitao has finished his lunch a little earlier before the rest of the group does. He offers Zitao his half of the flatbread, but Zitao declines. Zitao explains on the paper that he is a pescetarian, which is slightly different from a vegetarian. Instead of eating animal meat, pescetarians eat fish and seafood, and they can have dairy products. Kyungsoo apologizes but Zitao shakes his head with a small smile, as if saying  _ It’s not a big deal, you didn’t know. _

Feeling awkwardly left out, Jongin and Joonmyeon curiously peer at the notes and spot words such as “pescetarian”, “Morse Code”, and “sign language”, as the mini-notepad rests on the center of the table while the three friends are conversing, with Kyungsoo as the only vocal one. They look at each other, sensing how quiet they have been compared to the group but they do not mind, watching Kyungsoo being in his comfort zone, talking comfortably and breaking out of his shyness, within a hour of lunch is worth admiring. 

 


	13. End of the Day

After lunch, and before Joonmyeon’s group and Kyungsoo’s group go to their separate classes, Yixing is reluctant to let Jongdae go, but he trusts Zitao will take care of him. It is almost 1PM and some of the others have to either go to classes right after lunch or wait a while before their classes start at 1:30PM or 2PM. Meanwhile, a few have their last classes from 1PM to 2PM and will be free for the rest of the day; this includes Jongdae and Zitao.

Later in the afternoon, around 2PM, Jongdae gets out of class early with Zitao waiting for him outside. Unfortunately for Jongdae, due to Yixing being an upperclassman, Yixing has to focus on his dancing studies and performances at the studios offered on campus. Like this morning, Zitao has been Jongdae’s escort for most of the day, with the exception of lunch when Yixing took over.

Zitao looks up from his hands as he practices the Korean and American alphabets, to see Jongdae walking out the door with his walking stick and backpack, assisted by a fellow classmate named Jaehwan. Neither he nor Zitao know each other, so Zitao walks up to the duo, taking out a mini-notepad from his laptop bag and writing down _“Hello, I am Zitao, Jongdae’s friend. I’m here to escort him.”_

“Oh, I’m Jaehwan! I know you from our class!” The classmate passes Jongdae to Zitao, smiling at him. “Jongdae-hyungnim, here’s Zitao. I’ll see you in class on Thursday. Bye guys!” Jongdae then links one of his arms with Zitao and, together, they make their way to their college’s entrance gate.

**_Step…step…step…there is slightly less chatter than this morning…_ **

“So…uhm, Zitao, how did you do on the Math exam? I know we didn’t get to talk about it, but this seems a good time. Did you do well?”

With his walking stick in one hand, Jongdae’s other hand is free to take in the responses from Zitao. He feels his wrist being held and then flicked upwards, before his palm is turned upward and Zitao’s finger is making character strokes on it.

Zitao writes on Jongdae’s palm, _I finished the exam in 25 minutes, and I thought it wasn’t too bad. There were a lot of students taking the test when I left. How about you? I’m sorry about what happened back there. It wasn’t in my favor the moment I came into the classroom._

“Nah, Zitao. Don’t worry about it,” Jongdae assures Zitao. “I should be sorry about my attitude back there. It was strange that even though my first instinct was you, I thought of Lee Junghwan-sshi. So I didn't know who to call out first. As for the exam, I think I did well too, it didn’t seem too bad.”

The duo arrives outside the entrance gates and Zitao remembers that ever since he met Jongdae a year ago, he has never been to Jongdae’s house, thus he does not know the way to get there. Jongdae notices their steps slowing down and is about to ask Zitao when a noise interrupts them.

**_A hum of the motor engine is approaching closer towards them…A pause in their walking pace…A really long pause…A tug on Jongdae’s arm causes him to be alert._ **

**_The motor engine is getting louder and louder…until it stops, in front of them._ **

“Zitao, is there something wrong?,” Jongdae is concerned, gently nudging Zitao with his elbow. “I heard a ca-“

“Chenchen-ah, surprise!” A deep, rich voice calls out to Jongdae. Jongdae’s eyes widen in surprise at the recognition of his brother’s voice. Yifan gets out of the car, wearing a v-neck shirt and denim jeans, and makes his way to Jongdae.

“Gege?” Jongdae asks in confusion. He switches the walking stick in his hand over to his other hand that is linked with Zitao, and moves his now free hand around in front of him. His hand bumps onto Yifan’s chest, and he feels a warm hand enveloping his hand, and another hand softly ruffling his hair. There is a faint familiar scent of cologne emitting from Yifan. “Wh-what are you doing here?”

“What, I can’t surprise my baby brother and take him out for a small ride to the Han River on a congratulatory occasion now that you’ve finished taking the test? After studying your butt off last weekend? I’m insulted.” Yifan says in a lightly mocking tone, but his thumb grazes on Jongdae’s hand. Jongdae chuckles, knowing from the subtle gesture that his brother is joking. “Oh, hello,” Yifan lets go of Jongdae’s hand as he turns to Zitao. “Sorry for being rude, I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Lee Yifan, Jongdae’s older brother. What’s yours?”

Zitao’s mind, from the moment he sees the driver get out of the car and call out to Jongdae with that smile, has gone blank and now, he cannot stop staring at Yifan. _Wow…_ , Zitao thinks, _he’s very…handsome._ When Yifan asks him for his name, it does not register in his head that Yifan has just asked him a question. He is suddenly shaken out of his thoughts when he hears Jongdae explaining to his brother that he is Zitao, one of his friends. He wills himself to not blush and bows to Yifan.

“Oh, I see, you’re the one with the languages and brilliant math skills that Jongdae tells me about,” Yifan beams, extending his hand towards Zitao. Blushing hard at the compliment, Zitao tries to bring himself to look up at Yifan but he cannot. Instead, he gazes at Yifan’s hand, still in a slight stupor, with one arm linked with Jongdae and his other arm just hanging limply at his side. “Nice to meet you, Zitao.”

Few seconds pass and Zitao has not done anything. Yifan is left standing there, feeling a bit awkward for not being able to shake hands, and assures the mute student, “Zitao-sshi, we can shake hands. No need to be shy.”

Zitao shyly raises his free hand to shake Yifan’s hand, and he immediately feels goose bumps and warmth all over his body. He wills himself to not shudder at the contact, only to end up having his hand trembling inside the grasp of Yifan’s hand. Zitao notices that Yifan has not let go of his hand yet, and when he looks up at Yifan, his eyes widen in slight shock as Yifan gazes at him intently.

“Are you okay?” Yifan asks him in Chinese. That seems to shake Zitao out of the reverie and soothes him from the internal tension he is having, and Zitao nods quickly. Zitao remembers, as he recovers from a slight shock upon hearing him speak Chinese, _Right…Jongdae is half-Korean and half-Chinese, naturally his siblings would be too._ Loosening his grip quickly on Yifan’s hand, he feels Yifan’s hand letting go and watches Yifan step back a bit with a reassuring smile.

Yifan steps a little closer to Jongdae to take Jongdae’s backpack off his younger brother’s back and escorts him to the car. “Jongdae-yah, come on! Let’s go to the Han River.” He leads Jongdae to the passenger seat and closes the door. He then turns around to face Zitao and asks him, “Thank you, Zitao, for accompanying him. Actually, do you want a ride to your place?” Zitao shakes his head hastily with a small smile, and, looking a bit nervous, he points to the direction of his house opposite of where Yifan and Jongdae are planning to go.

“Oh…er…how far is it?” Yifan looks in the direction Zitao is pointing and turns his head slowly to look at Zitao in concern, as he inquires about the distance. Zitao signals to him with a slight pinch of air, and holds up two hands.

“Oh, ten minutes? That’s not too bad for you then, eh?” Zitao shakes his head. “Okay, well, thanks again. I hope we’ll be seeing each other soon, Zitao.” Yifan gives a little salute to Zitao and jogs to the driver’s side of the car before getting in. There is a noise of windows sliding down and Jongdae faces his head to the right. He reaches out for Zitao’s hand and Zitao obligingly extends his hand to meet with Jongdae’s. Jongdae wiggles it gently in a comfortable manner.

“Zitao! Thanks for helping me get around today; I really appreciate it. I’ll take up on that offer about learning Morse Code, it sounds quite useful! Get home safe, ok?” Jongdae beams at him, and he feels the upward flicking motion of his wrist from Zitao’s response. He chuckles and lets go of Zitao’s hand before waving. “Bye, Zitao!”

Zitao smiles and sees Yifan looking at him, giving a little nod and a grin. The car takes off and heads towards the Han River.

For a moment, Zitao feels slightly hotter than before, as he reflects on his actions from the moment he saw Yifan get out of the car. He bites his lower lip in worry, wondering why he has acted like that. Before he can think any further, a shout interrupts his thoughts. He turns around to face the shouter.

“Heeyy, Zitao! How are you? Feeling alright today?” Shin Dongwoo walks up to Zitao and claps Zitao’s back, giving him a smile. Zitao smiles back and nods, thankful that the blush has gone away due to being surprised at the shout.

“What’s going on with you for today? Are you finished with class for the day?” Dongwoo asks. Zitao bobs his head and points to the direction of his house, like how he did with Yifan earlier. Dongwoo exclaims, “Walking home that way? Ah really? My house is also in that direction. Mind having company?” Zitao shakes his head, gladdening at the thought of walking home with a friend. Together, they make their way home, passing by stores along one side of the street.

Although they walk in companionable silence, there are a few times when Dongwoo asks Zitao some questions that do not need too much explanation, Zitao will either gesticulate, or shake his head in a “yes” or “no” response. In return, Dongwoo gives Zitao his own answers to the same questions he asks Zitao, as if Zitao is asking him the same question. Dongwoo and Zitao get to know each other more, with the way Dongwoo has planned out the talk.

As they are walking in silence once again, Zitao catches the sight of someone familiar walking across from him. The person is lean and lanky, with smooth, silky, neck-length hair that sweeps across half of his face, concealing the right side of his face. Unfortunately for Zitao, the person is wearing sunglasses. The lean face gives him almost an androgynous feel, but even so, the person looks really pretty. He walks with a light gait, almost with dignity. As Dongwoo looks around, enjoying the view, Zitao steals glances at the person passing by them. He cannot help but be bothered at why this person looks so strikingly familiar. He racks his brain to remember a name and whom the person resembles, but none are coming to him. When the person walks past them, Zitao gets one last look at the person behind him and frowns, telling to himself that he feels like he should know this person from before.

A few minutes later, the duo stops at Zitao’s apartment building. It turns out that it is not just Zitao’s apartment building when Dongwoo exclaims, “Hey! You too?! This is my apartment building as well! What a coincidence, hahaha. Wow, _daebak_.”

As Zitao and Dongwoo enter the building, they take to the elevator, legs already tired from all the walking around school. Dongwoo asks Zitao which floor he is in, and Zitao points to the top floor button.

“FLOOR SIX?!” Dongwoo blurts out as he wheels around at Zitao, “Whoa…that’s all the way up there. Man, do you walk down the steps in the morning or any time of day?” Zitao gives him a casual nod with a shrug of shoulders. Dongwoo stares at him in disbelief and shakes his head, “Wow…you are incredible. Me, I just live on floor four, two floors below you. What’s your room number? Mine’s Room 406.” Zitao holds up his hands and signals to Dongwoo, _6 – 0 – 5._ Dongwoo pushes buttons 4 and 6 and the elevator starts with a jolt before ascending.

“Zitao-yah, consider us good friends, since you and Jongdae are on good terms with our Sunwoo. You can refer me as Dongwoo-hyung, or Shinwoo-hyung if you already know someone else who also goes by the name of Dongwoo, hahaha.” Dongwoo chuckles, and the elevator then makes a ringing sound, announcing that they have reached the fourth floor.

“Here’s my floor. Well Zitao-yah, it’s been real fun talking with you on our walk here. Glad we’re friends now. See you later!” Dongwoo tilts his glasses in salute towards Zitao, before stepping out of the elevator. Zitao waves and presses the close button before the elevator jerks again to rise to the sixth floor. When the doors open to the sixth floor, Zitao steps out and heads into the U-shaped hallway to the fifth room.

**_Four taps. Pause. Two taps._ **

Zitao does a special knock on the door that only Qian and Jinri know before using his key to enter. He comes in to see his older sister watching a drama on television, and waves at her.

“Good afternoon, Zitao-yah! Come sit and watch with me! Tell me how it went with your exam!” Qian says cheerily. Zitao smiles and gives a thumb up. He holds up a finger, signaling her to wait a moment so that he can put away his backpack. He takes out a notepad and pencil before leaving his bedroom to join his sister in the den.

Zitao gives Qian a hug and then scrunches his face. Qian looks at him, slightly offended, thinking that the scrunch of the nose is regarding her. Zitao flips open his notepad to write the details of what happened after his exam. Qian looks over Zitao’s shoulder and understands now why Zitao did the scrunch. She breathes out a giggle of relief at the end and pats her brother’s head. Qian coos, “Ah, these things still happen, huh? Well, you’re all used to this anyway. So you’ve made new friends now, huh? These ‘Shin Dongwoo’, ‘Jung Jinyoung’, ‘Lee Junghwan’ and ‘Cha Sunwoo’ people? That’s great! And aww, you’re so kind to escort Jongdae around. You’re such a caring person, Zitao-yah.”

Zitao laughs soundlessly, and remembers that he has learned a new language. He writes to Qian about how he met Kyungsoo, Daehyun and their group of friends and siblings, about Kyungsoo and Daehyun being deaf, and about how they would teach him sign language and he would teach them Morse code. He then demonstrates to his sister the letters of his name. Qian looks at him in shocked awe, and says, “I wanna learn it too! That looks so cool, whoa~!” Zitao tries his best to teach his sister the alphabet, often being a little unsure with his hands but he knows he’ll be practicing with his friends from now on. The thoughts of Yifan have been buried away deep in his mind unbeknownst to him, waiting to emerge.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~-

That late afternoon, their 2PM class’ professor releases Kyungsoo, Daehyun and the rest of the class 45 minutes earlier than the lesson should have ended, around 3:15PM. Kyungsoo and Daehyun leave the auditorium with their interpreters, Doojoon and Hyoyeon, trailing behind. Their professor has assigned them a journalism project due at the end of term.

As the group walks outside of the classroom, Kyungsoo, Daehyun and the interpreters wander aimlessly while discussing about the possible issues for Kyungsoo and Daehyun to write about. Hyoyeon wants to know more about what happened with Joonmyeon, only to find out from Daehyun that Kyungsoo has not one, but _two_ people chasing after him. Doojoon whistles, looking at Kyungsoo. [LUCKY, YOU, ns[KYUNGSOO]. WHO OTHER? GIRL? GUY?] “Lucky guy, you are, Kyungsoo-yah. Who’s the other one? A girl? A guy?”

When Daehyun informs the interpreters, Doojoon widens his eyes and Hyoyeon lets out a playful shriek. Few students are looking at the group as they walk by, surprised or curious why the lady has just shrieked.

[N-O. W-A-Y. K, SERIOUS? TRUE-BIZ?] “NO. WAY. Kyungsoo, are you for real?! For real?!?” Hyoyeon faces Kyungsoo and asks him. [ns[DAEHYUN] tell truth?] “Is it true what Daehyun says?” Kyungsoo could only nod, his face reddening and looking downwards to the ground.

[NONE NEED KNOW, PLEASE.]  _(But no one needs to know just yet, please.)_

[O-K, O-K. UNDERSTAND.]  _(Of course!)_

Then a voice cries out behind Hyoyeon and Doojoon.

“Yah, Hyo- I mean, Ms. Kim! Mr. Yoon!” Miyoung walks up to the quartet. “Oh hi, Kyunggi- I mean, Park Kyungsoo, and Jung Daehyun. Is anything the matter? You guys seem a little too happy today.”

“Oh, Soo’s got two Ro…mmm,” Hyoyeon catches herself from spilling the rest but Miyoung is smart enough to know of any halted pronunciations of “Romeo”. Miyoung looks at her brother with raised eyebrows, “Two, Kyungsoo?”

Kyungsoo can only stare at his sister-slash-teacher with the “deer-in-headlights” look as Miyoung walks closer to him. The others start backing away, uneasy about what Miyoung plans to do.

Miyoung suddenly hugs Kyungsoo in a flash and lets go quickly. “I’m so happy for you, Kyungsoo-yah! One is good, but two is _even better._ Deets when I get home, ‘kay? I have to head off to a staff meeting, but your sister and I will stop by your place tonight, as usual. See you guys later!” She waves to the group as she walks away. The group watches her retreating back in shock, thinking that Miyoung was going to do something bad to Kyungsoo.

Hyoyeon walks up behind Kyungsoo and pats him on the back, looking apologetic about her behavior. [*She snaps fingers* HAPPEN, REAL SORRY] “It just sort of happened like that, I’m so sorry.”

Kyungsoo assures his interpreter, [FINE, SHE FIND-OUT WILL. ANYWAY, "TWO-OF-US" NEED LEAVE, I THINK  ns[BAEKHYUN], ns[YOUNGJAE], OTHER FINISH THEIR CLASS++. SEE-TOMORROW YOU-ALL?] “It’s okay, she’s bound to find out anytime. Anyway, Daehyun and I should get going; I think Baekhyun, Youngjae and the others are finished with their classes. We’ll see you guys tomorrow, yeah?” Daehyun nods, and they all wave to each other as they leave in two different directions, the interpreters in one way, and the deaf duo in another.

Around 3:30PM, Kyungsoo and Daehyun run into Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Youngjae, JB and Yongguk, who were apparently waiting for them before heading home. On their way, they run into Joonmyeon. He informs them that his friends have dance practices and they will not be getting out until later that night, and that Jongdae and Zitao have already left for home, so it is just him alone. He asks if they would not mind one more companion, and they all shake their heads, welcoming him in. They all head to the entrance gates and are about to split up in different directions, the Park twins in one direction, the Kim brothers in another direction, the Jung twins in another, and Yongguk walking with JB to their neighborhood nearby the college campus. All three pairs of siblings live further from the school, but in different areas of their home district.

Trailing behind the group, Chanyeol pulls Baekhyun towards him and gives him a back hug, whispering in his ear, “ _Babe, I don’t wanna leave you just yet.”_ Baekhyun softly giggles and squirms at the ticklish feeling in his ear. He watches as his brother is awkwardly walking in between Daehyun and Joonmyeon, who seems to be relaxed and unbothered with Kyungsoo’s nervousness. Daehyun also notices this but keeps quiet about it, storing this in his memories under “ _Things to tease Kyungsoo with_ ” list. Youngjae and JB are chatting once again in a mixture of discussion topics from Starcraft to their compositions. Yongguk can only watch them in half-disapproval and half-amusement, shaking his head.

When it is time for the group to split up, they all wave to each other and leave in groups. Just before that, Joonmyeon gives Kyungsoo a hug and grips one of Kyungsoo’s shoulders on the side. Kyungsoo smiles shyly and he feels a thumb grazing the soft spot on his shoulder before his eyes glance at the moving thumb. He looks up at Joonmyeon who is grinning at him with sincere eyes.

“Walk home safely, okay, Kyungsoo-yah?,” Joonmyeon takes his hand off Kyungsoo’s shoulder and pats Kyungsoo’s head. “I’m glad to finally have met you this morning. Anyways, good night, kid. Let me know when you get home. Don’t forget, you still have my number.”

Kyungsoo blushes, remembering that he had sent him a text earlier at lunch today. He slightly nods, quickly looking away. Suddenly, he feels tongue-tied and does not dare to say anything. He hears Joonmyeon chuckling before dropping his hands to his sides and walking away from Kyungsoo.

[Hey, AGAIN YOU. REALLY OBVIOUS, KNOW-THAT? L-O-L. ANYWAY, FUN TODAY, THINK? MEET++MANY NEW FRIEND!] Daehyun walks up to Kyungsoo and signs to him as he nears. _(Yah, you’re doing it again. It’s getting really obvious that you like him. Hahaha. Anyway, it was fun today, right? We met a lot of new friends today!)_

Kyungsoo smiles contently at the memory of meeting Chanshik, Dasom, and Joonmyeon’s group of friends. He nods. [LONG DAY. "LOOK-FORWARD" TOMORROW, MAYBE "FROM-NOW-ON" TERM.] _(Yeah, it has been a long day today. But I’m looking forward for tomorrow, maybe even the rest of the term, actually.)_

Daehyun smirks and raises his eyebrow, [“FOR-FOR?” WAIT, BECAUSE ns[JOONMYEON], RIGHT? ns[JONGIN] TOO?] _(Why do you say that? Oh wait I know, it’s because of Joonmyeon, right? And Jongin too?)_ He snickers as Kyungsoo glares at him.

Kyungsoo acts indignantly. [NOT! LEAVE-ME-ALONE, ns[DAEHYUN]! FSH. THEY WILL KNOW, NOT NEED NOW. *Kyungsoo shakes his head* CONFIRM YET. BUT WHY ns[HYOYEON] TELL MY SISTER FINISH CLASS?! "COME-TO-US” ASK ns[HYOYEON] ns[DOOJOON] ABOUT "US-TWO", ns[HYOYEON] BLURT I HAVE NOT ONE, TWO! ns[MIYOUNG] NOT NEED KNOW NOW!] _(No, it’s not! Whatever, Daehyun. But shush, the others will know about this and they’re not supposed to know yet. Nothing’s been confirmed. But Hyoyeon told my sister after class! Geez, all my sister did was walk up to us outside of our classroom, asking Hyoyeon and Doojoon about you and me, and the first thing that comes out of her mouth was that I have a love issue, with not one Romeo but TWO Romeos! Miyoung-noona didn't need to know back then.)_ He ends his rant with a defeated sigh. Realizing that he might have made quite a soundless outburst of hands, he peers around at his group, and sees them all staring at him with raised eyebrows and pursed lips in shocked awe. Biting his lip, Kyungsoo catches Baekhyun’s gaze. He tries to pull off a casual wave and an innocent smile. He suspects Baekhyun must have seen what Daehyun has just said because there is a smug look on his face.

Kyungsoo’s face drops. [SEE EVERYTHING, YOU?] _(You saw everything, didn’t you?)_

Baekhyun does not hesitate to nod and lifts his hands up in surrender. [PROMISE NOT SPILL. ALTHOUGH ns[CHANYEOL] KNOW TOO, TWO-OF-US TALK-FINISH BEFORE.] _(I promise not to tell anyone. Although Chanyeol knows; we talked about this possibility between you and Joonmyeon.)_ Baekhyun snickers.

Kyungsoo makes a face at Baekhyun, and the others, except for Yongguk and Youngjae, are left wondering whether if it is important to know the conversation between Daehyun, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun, or not. Yongguk and Youngjae, though they understand the dialogue, are watching the trio with a slight confusion on their faces; they are not exactly sure what is going on with Kyungsoo and how this concerns Daehyun. Nonetheless, they shrug it off after seeing Baekhyun promising Kyungsoo he will not tell a soul.

The groups then part and bid each other goodbyes. Baekhyun walks with Kyungsoo, his arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders; Chanyeol and Joonmyeon walk side by side; Youngjae and Daehyun play around while walking to their home; Yongguk and JB chat about whatever happened at campus.

When Kyungsoo and Baekhyun arrive to their place 25 minutes later, after walking up several flights of stairs, Kyungsoo pulls out his cell phone and flips it open, about to send a text to Joonmyeon when he notices that there is a text from him from 15 minutes ago. He realizes that his cell phone was turned to silent since lunchtime, and so he facepalms himself before he opens the text.

To: Park Kyungsoo   
From: Kim Joonmyeon  
_Hey, just got home. Still walking? Our place is like 10 mins away. Actually, never mind. Chanyeol just told me about the walking distance from this morn. Let me know when you’re home. :)_

Kyungsoo stares at the text, feeling a bit weird about Joonmyeon. _On one hand, he seems nice,_ thinks Kyungsoo. _On the other hand, am I really something worth worrying about? It’s nice that he cares, but…isn’t this too soon for anything?_

“Yah, Kyungsoo, stop blanking out and come inside. Hyung already prepared the table for dinner. [Eat, _after_ put-away backpack and finish text-text _boyfriend_ ]” _(Let’s eat,_ after _you put your backpack in our room and finish texting your_ boyfriend _.)_ Baekhyun signs to Kyungsoo in a singsong manner. Kyungsoo stares at his brother in slight irritation but feels a blush on his face. Baekhyun chuckles and pets Kyungsoo’s hair as Kyungsoo walks past him to their bedroom.

Jonghyun is about to greet Kyungsoo when he sees Kyungsoo blushing, and says nothing. He looks at Baekhyun with questioning eyes, but receives a shake of head. He cocks an eyebrow and Baekhyun replies, “I think our Kyungsoo has a secret admirer…or two. Or maybe he’s even falling for his crush…or two.” Jonghyun widens his eyes at the mentioning of “or two”s and whips his head to look at where Kyungsoo has entered the hallway, jaw dropping. He looks back at Baekhyun, who is seated at the table.

“Yah, are you serious?! You’re not even joking?” Jonghyun eyes his younger brother warily as he joins him.

When Kyungsoo enters his shared bedroom, he texts to Joonmyeon.

To: Kim Joonmyeon  
From: Park Kyungsoo  
_Sorry for not responding earlier. Baekhyun and I were still walking home when you sent that text. Anyway, I just got home, yeah. Thanks for being caring…Joonmyeon-hyung._

Kyungsoo stares at the word “hyung” and feels a tingling sensation in his chest. He continues on.

_I’m so sorry for being awkward and everything today. I really am glad that I met you, hyung…and that I met your friends, too. :) Daehyun and I have met so many new friends today, it feels like elementary school all over for us again, haha. xP I’m gonna go eat dinner now. Enjoy your dinner and have a good night!_

Kyungsoo realizes in shock afterwards how long his text is, thinking of possible ways to shorten this. Trying to rid the uncertainness in himself, he decides to just press the “send” button. When it is sent, he sighs in relief and places his cell phone on his desk next to his bunk bed before he joins his brothers for dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Later that evening, Qian and Zitao are finishing their last touches on their dinner cooking when Jinri comes in, announcing her arrival. Jinri goes to put her backpack in her room and joins them at the table. They all sit down on the cushions on the floor and pray, before they enjoy their meal. Jinri asks Zitao how he did in his test, and he excuses himself to get the notepad resting on the couch. He brings it over to Jinri to read the notes as they eat. Jinri comes across snippets of “exam”, “Jongdae”, “Junghwan” and “Morse code” and she looks with a mixture of giddiness and concern at the situation. When she comes across “sign language” and “Kyungsoo and Daehyun who are deaf”, she accidently swallows her food in excitement. She coughs as Qian and Zitao watch her in shocked confusion.

Zitao moves to clap Jinri’s back, allowing her to breathe. Jinri then informs him happily, “Gege, I know some signs! We had to learn some of them earlier in high school.” She demonstrates her knowledge of American and Korean ABCs, and some basic phrases, such as “thank you”, “welcome”, “sorry”, and “please”. Zitao looks at her, crestfallen that Jinri knew about this before he did. However, he is comforted when Jinri tells him that these are all she knows and she would demonstrate the signs to Zitao and Qian again. Zitao chuckles soundlessly with a shake of his shoulders. The trio’s night has never been this much fun with laughing from the girls and the look of pure enjoyment on Zitao’s and his sisters’ faces, while working with their hands to eat and practice spelling their names and different words they know.


	14. A Brother's Familial Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lee brothers at a Han River Park, and a morning with the Moon brothers.

**_The soothing hum of the engine… A breeze in the air crashes gently on Jongdae’s face…_ **

Yifan is driving his brother, Jongdae, to the Han River Park as a way to celebrate with him. He glances at Jongdae now and then, checking between the road in front of him and his brother; he can see that Jongdae is looking content and relaxed. There is music blasting in his car, but he lowers it down so he can start a conversation with Jongdae.

“Chenchen-ah, how was your exam today? Did you do well?”

“Mm,” Jongdae gives a little grunt in reply. “Yeah, I did. The exam didn’t seem too bad, I thought it was pretty manageable…” Jongdae trails off. He smiles to himself, and it does not evade Yifan’s eagle eyes.

“Jongdae, you’re smiling. What’s up?” Yifan has this curious tone in his voice as he cocks his eyebrow and a smile creeps on his face.

Jongdae giggles, “There was a situation towards the end of my exam testing time, but it was all taken care of. The situation in the classroom was that my professor had to leave early for a lunch meeting so he had his teacher assistant come supervise. Zitao had came in when I was taking the test and I thought either it was Junghwan, the teacher assistant, or Zitao. Zitao was actually escorting me most of the day today. And so when I heard several noises of door shutting and some kind of tapping noises, I didn’t think it was Zitao; I thought it was someone else, a student who was trying to cheat me off the test.

“It turned out to be Zitao after all, because Junghwan came in later and declared himself. Apparently, he didn't know who Zitao was, until another acquaintance of ours came by, Sunwoo from last year. With the confusion cleared up, I was able to finish my test. Afterwards, Junghwan said that we didn’t need to worry about it, that it was just a misunderstanding. Apparently, Sunwoo and Junghwan were part of a bigger group. Zitao and I got to meet their hyungs, Shin Dongwoo and Jung Jinyoung. They seemed nice,” Jongdae rambles on. “We also met more new friends, through Joonmyeon-hyung. I believe their names were Park Kyungsoo and Baekhyun – they’re twins, by the way – Lee Chanyeol, Jung Daehyun and Youngjae – also twins – Im Jaebum or JB, Bang Yongguk, and Song Jieun.” Jongdae’s smile broadens. “It’s quite a big social network we have, hahaha.” Yifan chuckles with Jongdae as he makes a turn on the road that takes them to the Han River Park.

There also happens to be another motive behind Yifan surprising Jongdae and taking him out to the park and not home: Minseok has ordered Yifan to distract Jongdae for as long as he possibly can. Minseok has forgotten one crucial ingredient to make sweet baozi for desserts: red bean paste; his actions have caused a delay of about an hour.

_ A while ago… _

Minseok had put the finishing touches on the dinner feast before he focused on the dessert part. He left the dough to rise while he finished up cooking his meal, and that was when he realized, according to the checklist that he had of the ingredients to purchase from this morning, he did not buy the filling for the buns. When the dough had risen and Minseok realized he forgot the red bean paste, he made sure the bowl with the dough inside was still covered to keep it from drying in the time that he was gone, so he could get the red bean paste from the nearby grocery store.

Just as Minseok was leaving the apartment, he bumped into Yifan who came back from school. Still running, he ordered Yifan to take Jongdae out and not to return until he got the call from the man himself. Yifan cocked his eyebrow at the sight of his brother’s retreating back, wondering why his older brother was being in a rush. He went inside the apartment and noticed several checklists on the table. Most of the lists had been checked off, as they were recipes for the meal later in the evening; however, only one checklist had one box not yet checked off: red bean paste. Yifan understood now why his brother was in a hurry and, glancing at the clock to read 1:55PM, he remembered that Jongdae would get out of class in five minutes. He hurried down the stairs to get on his convertible BMW and headed to Jongdae’s college for a surprise visit.

_ Back to the present…. _

**_A cool breeze blows on Jongdae’s face, and a whiff of fresh water fills Jongdae’s nostrils._ **

**_Children are laughing and there are sounds of splashing…the car’s engine is turned off._ **

Jongdae feels Yifan’s hand resting on his hand, patting him. “Chenchen-ah, we’re here! Come on, let’s go.” He hears Yifan gets out of the car as the door opens and closes, with the car shaking a bit from the loss of Yifan’s weight. A few seconds pass before the door opens on Jongdae’s side, and he feels a hand cupping his elbow to lead him outside of the car.

The moment the brothers are outside of the car, Yifan locks his car with his remote before linking his arm with Jongdae and leading him to a bench near the river. As they walk to the bench, Yifan asks Jongdae to continue his story. Jongdae explains that he does not really know much about the new friends, but he does know for a fact that Daehyun and Kyungsoo are deaf. “But,” Jongdae adds, as they are walking, “Kyungsoo can talk really well, he wears hearing aids so he is capable to communicate with us, too. They have this dual-sign language system where they alternate between American and Korean Sign Languages.”

Yifan raises his eyebrows in surprise as his ears perk up on the information. “Oh? Have you talked with them yet?”

Jongdae shakes his head. “I’m not exactly familiar with the sign language, but Kyungsoo promises to teach me and Zitao anyway, while Zitao will teach the three of us Morse Code. That’s the one that Zitao was using when I was taking the test and he came in to try to let me know that it was him, with the tapping noises. We can use the Morse Code for emergency reasons or for fun. It’s gonna be quite interesting to learn them.”

Yifan nods as he hums in acknowledgement. Having arrived at the bench, he helps Jongdae sit down and sits down himself, sliding an arm around Jongdae’s shoulders.

Yifan takes a deep breath. “Looks like you’ll be having quite a big group of friends for college and from here on out. My baby brother’s growing up, and it’s time you’ve made connections with people out there to have a successful future. You may become a mathematician, a math teacher, or maybe even major in another field and use your mathematical knowledge to solve mysteries and whatnot, but don’t become a hermit.” Yifan jokes.

“Hahaha, I won’t,  _ gege _ ,” Jongdae smiles. The two brothers leave their conversation in comfortable silence as they sit on the bench and appreciate everything in their surroundings that their senses can allow them to embrace.

People are passing by the brothers, often mistaking them to be a couple, with Yifan casually sitting with his arm around Jongdae’s shoulders, which makes Yifan laugh. There are some familiar acquaintances like the one lady from the convenience grocery store who knows Yifan and his siblings due to their regular visits. She nods her head at them and walks up to them. “ _ Aigoo _ , Yifan-ah and Jongdae-yah, it’s Auntie Hwakyung,” the lady says, as she identifies herself for Jongdae’s sake. She joins them on the bench, sitting down next to Jongdae. “What brings you here? Such a nice day to be here, isn’t it?”

“Mhm, it sure is, auntie,” Yifan agrees as Jongdae nods. “Jongdae here had his math exam today and he thought he did pretty well, so I thought why not take him out and have a relaxation trip out here?” Yifan smiles as Jongdae sighs happily, tilting his head almost as to rest it on Yifan’s shoulder.

“ _ Omona _ , Jonggie-yah, come by our store sometime, and auntie will give you a special treat, okay?” Hwakyung pats Jongdae’s thigh gently before she gets up to leave. “You boys take care now, have a wonderful time.”

Later on, a family of four walks by, with two young talkative, noisy children following behind their parents. The children suddenly stop in front of Jongdae and Yifan, watching the Lee brothers with curious eyes, wondering why the younger guy’s eyes look cloudy. As the parents continue to walk on, they do not realize until a few seconds later that their children have fallen silent, and when they turn around, they see them standing in front of the Lee brothers. The parents turn around and walk back to their children. Pointing at Jongdae, the little girl begins to question her parents when she is gently shushed to respect the said blind guy’s appearance. Yifan mutters to Jongdae what is happening in front of them, describing two children and their actions when they saw Jongdae. Yifan waves with his free hand at the children and the children slightly cower at his lanky being, hurrying over to stand between their parents.

Yifan is not surprised that to the children he looks like a giant with his eyebrows making him look scarier. He immediately smiles to show his kind nature. The children smile shyly and glance between their parents and him. The little girl starts holding her casual dress by the lengths and starts twirling side-to-side, peeking up at Yifan. Yifan cannot help but smile even more at the girl’s cuteness.

“Hey there, little girl. How are you this fine afternoon? What’s your name?” Yifan glances at the girl’s parents, who nod at him to show that it is okay to talk to her. The girl continues to twirl side-to-side, looking down. She begins to pat down her skirt before saying, “My name’s Dayoung. I’m fine, thank you,  _ a-ajusshi _ .”

Yifan raises his eyebrows in a pleasant surprise at being called  _ ajusshi _ . He has momentarily forgotten that there is quite a huge age gap between him and the girl. He chuckles to himself, “ _ Aigoo _ , you’re so cute. You can call me  _ ‘oppa’ _ if you like.” Dayoung slowly shakes her head with a small pout.

Meanwhile, Jongdae continues to keep his head facing straight ahead, unaware of what is happening in front of him. Yet he hears shuffling of shoes, the noisy children falling silent, and, when he feels Yifan shifting in his seat, he hears Yifan talking with a little girl. He moves his head to face downward before putting on a smile.

“This here is my baby brother, Jongdae,” Yifan earns a light slap on the chest from Jongdae and he chuckles. The girl peeks up at Jongdae before she stares up at him, almost entranced by the misty appearance of Jongdae’s blind eyes.

“MY NAME IS YOOGEUN,  _ AJUSSHI-DEUL _ !” The little boy runs towards his sister and the Lee brothers, startling the three of them with his loud, energetic voice. The parents snicker at their son’s greeting. The poor girl nearly jumps out of her skin when she hears her brother and whips around to glare at him.

“Heh, nice to meet you, Yoogeun. My name is Yifan, and this is Jongdae, my brother.” Yifan pats Yoogeun’s head, his eyes crinkling in amusement. “You’re quite the energetic one.”

“AHJUSSHI, WHY DOES THIS AJUSSHI HAVE EYES LI-hmrergmmff!” Dayoung claps her hand to cover her brother’s mouth, as Yoogeun is about to ask why Jongdae’s eyes look so odd compared to Yifan’s eyes. The parents’ faces drop in shocked horror at what their son is about to ask, and Dayoung mutters to her brother to be quiet and to be sensitive about other people’s feelings. The parents rush over to apologize.

Jongdae and Yifan, upon hearing Yoogeun’s outburst, are not too fazed by the question. They take it easily in stride, and when the parents come over to apologize, they shrug it off, telling them that it is okay for children to be curious about such things and show their determination to find out the answers. The mother smiles sadly at Jongdae, and Yifan assures the parents that it is okay.

“Yoogeun-ah, you want to know why Jongdae ajusshi’s eyes are like that? Why don’t I let my brother tell you?” Yifan gives Jongdae a slight shake with his arm still around Jongdae’s shoulders. Jongdae turns his head to where he thinks he heard Yoogeun shouting. He simply replies, “I am blind, Yoogeun-ah. I cannot see what you see.”

“What do you mean, mister? You have eyes, they help you see!” Yoogeun points to his own eyes and does a “peek-a-boo” gesture. Jongdae chuckles, “Not always. Imagine if you have a black paper in front of your eyes, so that you see nothing but black, and wherever you walk, the paper stays with you, blocking everything you see. Or imagine if you’re in a dark room, with no light and you try to walk around, even with your eyes open. That’s what it is like being blind.”

“Gosh,  _ ajusshi _ . That must really be awful for you.” Dayoung exclaims in a hushed whisper. Jongdae chuckles again. “Not always,” he repeats. “Even when my sight is gone, my other senses are much sensitive than of an ordinary human being. I have keen senses of smell, taste, and touch. My sensitivity to hearing is quite extreme. My ears are very attuned with my surroundings. One of life’s perks when you have a disability.”

“Whoaa…that is so cool.” Both Dayoung and Yoogeun watch Jongdae in awe, with Dayoung’s jaw dropped and looking at Jongdae in astonishment, and Yoogeun watching with eyes wide open. Yifan snickers at how adorable the children are. The parents look over their children with contentment at their respectable behaviors towards Jongdae. Using this appropriate time to leave, the parents pat their children’s heads and coo at them that it is time for them to go home. “Don’t forget your manners,” the father says lightheartedly, and the children do not forget to bow and wish the brothers a good afternoon. Jongdae and Yifan wish the children to grow up healthy and well, and wish their parents happy times ahead for the family.

The two brothers fall into conversation for the next half hour about school and life when Jongdae brings up a topic that has been nagging in the back of his mind.

“ _ Gege _ , can I trust you with a secret? To be honest, I don’t know whether this is just a phase or if it’s just because I’ve known this person for so long…” Jongdae trails off as he twiddles with his thumbs, hands clasped. Yifan gazes at him, intrigued at the mention of “phase”. He ducks his head slightly, eyes still gazing intently on Jongdae.

“What is it, Jongdae-yah? What is this ‘phase’ you’re talking about, hmm?” Yifan prods with the question.

“I..I don’t know, maybe it’s just stupid to thi-…I…” Jongdae nervously fidgets in his seat, his shoulders still surrounded by Yifan’s arm. “I…don’t know if I…am g-…well,” Jongdae gulps. “I  _ think  _ I like…guys.”

Yifan watches his brother in contemplative silence. “You  _ think _ you like guys, or you  _ know _ you like guys?”

“I…ahem,” Jongdae clears his throat. “I don’t know because there’s only one guy and only him that I …have a strange feeling for. Maybe an affinity, perhaps more.”

“Oh, I see…Is it Yixing?” Yifan smiles, as he brings his hand to rake through Jongdae’s hair. He feels Jongdae tensing up, as Jongdae hitches a breath in his throat.

“How…wha…how did you figure it out?” Jongdae stammers, thinking if his actions towards Yixing in the past have been either obvious or subtle.

“It doesn’t take a genius to read between the lines and know the symptoms of falling in love,” Yifan replies. “Chenchen-ah, if you really like Yixing, you should tell him. After all, I see how Yixing treats you, ever since we first met years back when you were in high school. Minseok and I, even your sister, Sunyoung, we suspected there was something going on between you two. Perhaps Yixing feels the same way. I don’t know how you want to go with this, and how things will turn out for you and Yixing, but you have plenty of time to prepare things to go your way. Listen, it may be just me but I do think Minseok and Sunyoung would say this, you’re still my brother, you’re still my family. From me, personally, you’ll always be my baby brother, no matter what.” Yifan brings his hand down from Jongdae’s hair. “Yes, I may have been a little overprotective of you since the…incident, and it shows that I care about you a lot. Whether you’re gay, maybe for Yixing alone, or not, there’s no difference. You’re still a brave, young kid to me; you’re still the sunshine in our family.”

Jongdae bows his head, blinking rapidly, as the words sink in. He starts to sniffle, deeply touched by his brother’s words. He turns his head away from Yifan, knowing that Yifan is next to him because of his body heat and Yifan’s arm around his shoulders.

“Yah, Chenchen-ah, are you crying?” Yifan leans a little forward to get a closer look at his brother. He stares in slight wonderment as Jongdae shakes his head furiously and Jongdae’s voice starts to crack with a reply of “n-no”. Jongdae gives it away with a fast hand moving to wipe off his runny nose.

“Hey…come on, Chenchen, don’t lie. I can see you crying. Yah,” Yifan coos as he brings his hand to brush off Jongdae’s tears streaking down on Jongdae’s cheeks with his thumb. “No more crying, okay? You’ve let out a big burden out of your shoulders and your heart. You should be happy now.” Still seated on the bench, Yifan shakes Jongdae a bit before holding Jongdae’s sides.

“Here, sit on my lap,” Yifan hoists Jongdae by the sides as Jongdae helps out to feel for Yifan’s lap and settles on it. Yifan brings Jongdae a little closer, his chest pressed against Jongdae’s back. He rests his chin on one of Jongdae’s shoulders as he wraps his arms around Jongdae’s waist, watching Jongdae still hanging his head. “Why are you looking so down?”

“BecosIdunnowhaeeshingelook’slike…” Jongdae mumbles. Yifan blinks, eyebrows frowning as he tries to understand what Jongdae just said.

“What, Chenchen? Speak up properly.”

Jongdae sighs and gulps. “Because…I don’t know…what Yixing-ge looks like…Am I stupid to fall in love for someone I cannot even see, only that I can touch, hear and…smell? I’ve known him for years but to fall for someone I cannot picture in my head! This doesn’t make sense, I feel like an idi-“

“Yah.” Yifan interrupts with a growl. That shuts Jongdae up. “ _ Don’t  _ say that about yourself ever again, you hear me?  _ Ever. _ First of all, you are  _ not _ stupid. Second, who says so? Who says that it is illogical for a blind person to fall in love with someone, huh? Who is to stop you from feeling what you feel for another person? Jonggie-yah, some people say that love is blind because some people are foolish to fall in love with others who do not seem to match well with them. However, love is also blind because there are some people who do not need eyes to  _ see  _ the love that others have for them. As long as you trust your heart and the other person with your very being, and the other person trusts you just the same, that’s love right there.” Jongdae nods slowly, understanding what his brother is telling him.

A cell phone ringtone interrupts the brotherly moment, and Yifan retrieves his cell phone from the pocket of his jacket. He gets an ok signal from Minseok to come back home before stowing it away.

“Now come on, it’s already almost 5PM. Minseok will have already gotten his dinner creation ready for you tonight.” Yifan pats Jongdae’s thighs to signal him to get up and Jongdae obeys.

Standing up, Yifan stretches a bit before he takes Jongdae’s hand, intertwining with his hand. They make their way to Yifan’s car. “Promise me, from now on, you won’t think low of yourself. Leave that to the haters, and you can simply ignore them. Now, when we get home, you can tell Sunyoung and Minseok about your confession, but I think we all already knew about it. If it makes you feel better to tell them and be done with, then by all means, do it, Jongdae-yah. As for Yixing, tell him when the time comes. There is no rush to tell him right away. When you feel ready to tell him, then be ready to tell him. We won’t push you and Yixing, but we’ll always have your back, got that?” He squeezes Jongdae’s hand gently. Jongdae nods.

Just when the Lee brothers get in the car, the sun starts to set down on the horizon, filling the sky with a vibrant, blood red orange hue. When they arrive home, Jongdae is surprised to hear that not only did Minseok prepare two dish creations, Coconut Curry Chicken and Cauliflower Manchurian, but a dinner feast. When dinner has filled the four siblings’ stomachs to the maximum, Jongdae decides to come out to the rest of his siblings, and sure enough, as Yifan has predicted earlier, they are glad that Jongdae has come to terms of his sexual identity, and they already have assumed whom Jongdae’s heart wants to chase after. Jongdae’s night could not have been any more cheerful than this nor more relaxing.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Jongdae is met with not just Yixing, but Zitao and Luhan, at his house. After greeting each other, Luhan begins to converse with Minseok in half Chinese and half Korean while Yifan walks over to Zitao, with Jongdae in tow. Jongdae translates for Zitao as Zitao continues to make different strokes on his palm, with Yixing and Yifan watching them intently. When it is time for Jongdae and his group of friends to go, Yifan winks at Zitao just as the group leaves the elder Lee brothers. Zitao feels funny about it, like a schoolgirl being noticed by a hot guy in school.

Kyungsoo and his group with Joonmyeon also head to school, and they meet Jongin and Sehun at the entrance gates. Daehyun nudges Kyungsoo and signs to him, [ANOTHER DAY DEAL 2 fs(ROMEO), ^(RIGHT)^]  _ (Just another day to deal with your two Romeos, yeah?) _ Kyungsoo gives him a deadpanned look, and Daehyun snickers.

Wednesday goes pretty slow, since Jongin, Sehun, Youngjae, JB, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol have a busier schedule than Jongdae, Zitao, Kyungsoo, and Daehyun. Yongguk, Luhan, and Joonmyeon, despite their upperclassmen status, have even busier schedules than the underclassmen. Jongin and Sehun meet up with Jongup in their dance studio class and the three of them have lunch together later. Joonmyeon has a meeting to attend during lunch, so Daehyun and Kyungsoo meet with Jongdae and Zitao for lunch. They also invite Chanshik and Dasom to join them for a sign language lunch session.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

_ In front of Jongup, there is a male figure with his back facing him. The male looks back at Jongup, the lower half of his face is hidden with a black mask, but his eyes are crinkling. He seems to be entertained. Looking right into Jongup’s eyes, the guy holds up three fingers, slowly counting down. _

_ 3… _

_ 2… _

_ 1. _

_ The guy takes off, running through some kind of maze. He keeps turning left and right and straight. _

_ Jongup wonders why. He makes to follow him, running straight towards where he sees the figure. _

**_THUNK…_ **

_ “OOF!” Jongup grunts in shock just as he collides with a wall. A clear glass wall. He steps back, bewildered, staring at the foggy impression that his face leaves on the wall. With one hand rubbing his forehead, he reaches out tentatively with his other hand to feel the wall. As he wipes his hand across it, Jongup can feel the coolness of the surface rubbing with his skin. He blinks, focusing on the figure now standing in the opposite end of the room, still with the same expression from earlier. But the figure seems to be waiting for him, beckoning him with his hand. _

“There are so many walls between him and me…How did he know which way to go? _ ” Jongup mutters to himself as he studies the view in front of him, catching the thinness of the glass-like material found in random areas of the room. _

_ Jongup and the stranger are in a room of glassy, transparent walls. There are too many walls lined up in different directions, causing Jongup to feel lost and confused. Jongup looks behind him, and through the doorway, he sees walls of mirrors. He concludes that they had just left the maze room of mirrors. Looking ahead, Jongup calls out to the figure. _

_ “HOW DO I GET THROUGH THIS MAZE?” Jongup’s voice suddenly fills his side of the room, as the walls are extended from the floor to the ceiling, obstructing his voice to reach to the other side of the room where the stranger is in. _

_ The male figure stands there, unaffected by Jongup’s shout. However, his eyes are no longer crinkling but staring back at Jongup. He shakes his head and shrugs. Then he points to somewhere to the right. Jongup looks to his own left, and finds a gap between two walls wide enough for a person to go through. The walls are thinly durable, yet sturdy. The gaps between the entrance walls cannot be seen from the front, only from the side. _

Oh, this is the same way the guy took earlier _ , Jongup thinks to himself. He goes into the maze and starts running. _

**_THUNK….Jongup collides with a wall._ **

**_”WHOA!”…Jongup tests one wall and finds it to be a fake, easily running through the space…until he hits another wall. THUNK…._ **

**_THUD…A grunt…A hushed ”ow…”_ **

_ Wincing from the pain of bumping against walls he cannot see, Jongup is halfway into the maze when he looks around to see his masked stranger rooted in the same spot. The stranger looks with concerned eyes and holds a thumb up, signaling the question if Jongup is okay. _

_ Jongup nods despite some bruises he may have, and continues to find his way out of the darn maze.  _ This room is so tricky,  _ he thinks to himself. _ I don’t know which way is right and which is left, heck, I don't even know which way I came from.

_ Jongup finally gets himself out of the maze after a while. He tentatively leans on one of the walls, before being assured that he is not going to fall down, since the glass has not cracked under pressure. He pants, due to his running around in the maze, and rubs some of his sore muscles from the impacts he suffered from running into one too many walls. _

_ The stranger comes up to him, tilting his head in concern, and Jongup just smiles at the stranger, too exhausted to speak. When Jongup feels a stitch on his side, he places his hand on his ribs, and bombards the stranger with questions, “Who are you? Why am I here?” He scans the visible part of the stranger’s face. _

_ The stranger makes no reply, and continues to stare at him. Before Jongup can study his face even further, he turns away and heads to the next room. _

_ Jongup, feeling some energy returning into his body once again, follows his stranger to the next room. He slows to a stop when he sees not a door but a gap under the doorframe. The stranger has walked into the gap and darkness has enveloped him. There is no sound coming out of the room. Jongup feels a little nervous. He tentatively walks over to the void, about a foot away from the doorframe. _

_ “Hello?” _

_ Silence. _

_ Jongup continues on, but his body cannot help but violently shudder at the thought of being in unknown, inaudible, unseen dimension of darkness. _

_ “Excuse me, are you still here? Er…the stranger I met earlier. Are you st-“ _

_ Jongup continues his sentence, “-ill here in this place? Whoa,” when he realizes in shock that his ears are no longer functioning to hear. The rest of his sentence is swallowed in the darkness, and he starts to freak out. He does whatever he can to regain his hearing back. _

_ Tapping his ears, thinking that something must’ve blocked his ear canals. Nothing. _

_ Shaking his head. Not a single sound. _

_ Puffing his cheeks while pinching both his nostrils to let air out of his ears. Not even one faint noise is heard. _

_ As Jongup continues to talk while unable to hear, he feels his throat vibrating from his voice box, but his ears are still not taking in any sounds. _

_ “What’s happening to me? HELP! SOMEONE! ANYONE!” _

On a Thursday morning, Jongup wakes up to his own voice talking; his volume is loud, almost to the point of shouting. He gasps and brings his hands to his ears. He tests his hearing with experimenting different vowel sounds and saying his own name “Moon Jongup…Moon Jongup…Moon Jongup” and then later the sounds of Hangul (“gieuk, nieun, dieut, rieul…ah, ae, yah, yae, eoh…”). After a while of testing his hearing, he sighs in relief that he can hear everything fine. Just then, his nostrils pick up the smell of scrambled eggs, bacon, and rice from the kitchen outside his room.

“Jongup-ah, you okay? Breakfast is ready,” Jongup’s head whirls to his bedroom door, eyes in a frantic state, as Himchan knocks on it before opening it to poke his head through.

“Yeah, I’ll be right out in a sec,” Jongup mumbles, rubbing his eyes. Himchan nods before he disappears behind the door.

When Jongup is fully awake, he joins his brother at the dining table, where breakfast is prepared. He mulls over the dream that he had this morning, wondering who that stranger was, and why he had that panicky moment with his ears.

“Something bothering you, Jongup-ah?” Himchan places his hand on the back of Jongup’s neck to give him a neck massage before returning his hand to his lap. He picks up his utensil with his other hand to start eating breakfast. “You were talking loudly in your sleep. I could even hear you from the kitchen while I was cooking up eggs. Something about a ‘maze’ and you needing help.” He watches Jongup in concern, chewing on his egg with rice.

Jongup slumps on his chair, looking down at his plate, his eyes unfocused. His mind continues to picture himself in the glassy maze, bumping into invisible walls. With one collision with a wall, he brings himself back to reality when he feels Himchan scratching his head, coaxing him to tell his older brother what has been bothering him this morning.

Jongup explains his dream, and Himchan reacts with a look of puzzlement on his face.

“Huh, so that’s how you ended up when I came in,” says Himchan thoughtfully. “Interesting how you had that episode, I wonder why. But for now, less thinking and more eating, Jongup-ah. We’ll be leaving in about 30 minutes, and you need to shower.”

The brothers continue to finish their breakfast and, once full, Jongup heads to shower and get ready for school. Himchan is already all set for his day classes and, as he waits for Jongup to come out, he cleans up the kitchen and grabs his backpack before heading out the door. “Jonguppie, I’m gonna start the car! I’ll be waiting there, okay?” His cell phone rings, and Himchan picks it out of his jean pocket to see that Hyosung is calling him.

“Hey, babe. Good morning, wassup?” Himchan greets Hyosung warmly.

“Himchannie, guess what? My old dance teacher from last year called me to see if she could interview me today because she wants a teacher assistant for her dance classes. Hopefully I’ll get it!” Hyosung rambles.  **“** I mean, it’s so soon after I graduated last Spring that I get a job teaching and assisting one of my favorite professors! Wish me luck, Channie!”

“Wow! That’s great! Good luck, babe. I know you’re going to do just fine! You’ll nail that interview, for sure.” Himchan smiles as he gets in his convertible car. “Okay, Hyosung, I’m gonna start the car. Jonguppie’s almost out of the house, we’re about to go to campus now. Let’s meet up for lunch again today, same place?”

“Sure, sweetie! I’ll see you and Jonguppie soon~ Thanks, by the way~” Hyosung chirps. A few minutes after Himchan has started the car and hung up on his cell phone, he sees Jongup walking out of the house, locking the door and running down to hop into the convertible car. They then drive off to go to campus, ready for the day to come.


	15. All the world's a stage...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Acquaintances made... Reunion... A whoopsie-daisy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Refer to this if needed: [ASL GUIDE](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5949934/chapters/13676773)

When the Moon brothers arrive at their campus, Jongup sees Jongin and Sehun at the entrance gates with Joonmyeon. They seem to be hanging around, chatting. He points to them as he tells Himchan, “Hyung, see the tan guy and two pale guys next to him? Two tall ones and a short one?” Himchan glances in the direction where Jongup is pointing, and he quickly catches sight of the described trio before looking back at the road. He nods and Jongup continues, “That’s Jongin, Sehun, and Joonmyeon-hyung.”

“Hyung?!” Himchan sputters out in surprise, his eyes taking off the road, and looks at Jongup. “You just met the group this week and you’re already close?” Jongup nods. “How old is he…?”

Jongup blinks at him and he lets his eyes go astray, “Uhh…I don’t know. I didn’t ask.” He scratches his nose.

“Yah, _babo_ ~” Himchan lets out in a singsong voice along with a heavy sigh. Himchan finds a parking spot and parks his car. Turning off the engine, Himchan gets out of the car, shaking his head in amusement.

Jongup grins and gets out of the car, bringing his backpack with him. Himchan opens the backseat door to get his laptop bag before he locks his car with his remote. They then make their way towards the Kim trio and greet the three guys, bowing to them.

Surprised, Jongin, Sehun and Joonmyeon whirl around, and immediately, their eyes first land on Jongup’s company, feeling intimidated by his height. They nervously greet Jongup, and bow to his companion. Jongup is oblivious to their nervousness, looking at them with a smiling goofy face. Himchan, who is behind Jongup, nods his head nonchalantly at the trio, and glances at Jongup before clearing his throat, and Jongup realizes that both parties have not met each other before. Once Jongup introduces the Kim trio to his older brother, the atmosphere becomes less awkward.

“Joonmyeon-sshi, I hear from my brother that he calls you hyung. How old are you?” Himchan inquires, and Joonmyeon answers back without skipping a beat, “21 years old, on my 4th year of Journalism.”

“Ahh, looks like I’m a year older than you; 22 years old and I’m a grad student in Music.” Himchan nods, satisfied with Joonmyeon’s answer, “I suppose it is okay that he can call you hyung, since you three are relate-“

Jongup, Jongin, Joonmyeon and Sehun interrupt him at the same time with apologetic smiles on their faces.

“Hyung, they’re not, haha.”

“No, Joonmyeon-hyung isn’t our brother.”

“Er, I’m sorry but we’re not all related.”

Himchan looks between the four of them before resting his eyes on Jongup. “Oh? But you guys have Kim as your surnames…”

Joonmyeon nods, replying, “We have the same surname but I am really and literally not Jongin and Sehun’s older brother. I am a close friend of theirs actually, that’s all.” With that, he smiles.

“Oh, my apologies,” Himchan bows his head. “Jongin-ah and Sehun-ah, thank you for being friends with my Jonguppie here. I’m glad that he found you guys through dancing.” He ruffles Jongup’s head, and Jongup gives a slight whine at being called “my Jonguppie” in front of his friends. This earns a chuckle from Joonmyeon and smiles from Jongin and Sehun.

“Yah,” Himchan brings his arm to hang around Jongup’s neck, and brings Jongup closer to him. Jongup stumbles a bit before he finds himself standing slightly in front of Himchan, and he brings up his hands to hold onto Himchan’s arm for leverage. Himchan whispers in Jongup’s ear, “I’m your only older brother. You’re my only little Jonguppie; deal with it. I don’t care if your friends are around or not, I’m still calling you ‘my Jonguppie’.” Himchan chuckles, and he glances at the Kim trio as they stand there, peering at them curiously. “Besides, what’s wrong with showing a little familial affection?” He ends it with a peck to Jongup’s cheek as he lifts his arm to cradle Jongup’s head. Having let go of Himchan’s arm, Jongup blushes and bows his head.

Feeling a little amused, Jongin and Sehun walk up to Jongup and Jongin tells him, “Jongup-goon, let’s get going to our science class! Joonmyeon-hyung, Himchan-sshi– “

“Please, call me Himchan-hyung. Jongup’s friends with you all.” Himchan smiles.

“Oh, okay, Himchan-hyung.” Jongin grins back. “We’ll be on our way now, we’ll see you guys later!” The Kim twins and Jongup begin to make their way to their science class.

“Ah, Jongup-ah, Hyosung-noona will be joining us for lunch. I’ll see you later!” Himchan salutes. Jongup nods and is about to turn around when Joonmyeon makes a suggestion.

“Oh, why don’t you three join us for lunch, it’ll be quite a big group, but I’m sure the others will not mind.”

“Er…thank you, Joonmyeon-ah, I’ll think about the offer. We might stop by if we decide to join you guys, because…ermm…I’m not sure if we’ll be eating outside of campus or not.” Himchan nervously replies, remembering a few days ago when he saw Bang Yongguk and his group of friends move over to where Joonmyeon and his group were seated. While he was eating lunch that day and chatting with Hyosung and Jongup, who was in a daze after seeing the dirty blond haired guy, Himchan kept sneaking glances at Yongguk. He has felt conflicted of what he thinks of Yongguk since then.

With a pang of realization, Himchan remembers he will be seeing Yongguk this morning, and that Yongguk better returns his notebook ‘in pristine condition’, as he puts it.

“I…should go. Jongup-ah, meet me at the same spot as last Tuesday, okay?” Himchan says distractedly, brushing past the group before he places his hand on Jongup’s shoulder to give it a little squeeze.

“O-okay, hyung. I’ll see you later.” Jongup answers back. Jongin slides one of his arms on Jongup’s shoulders and tugs him gently, signaling that they should get going to class. Joonmyeon waves at them as they part ways.

Walking to the science class, Jongup remembers something. “Wait, what about the others?”

“Oh, Luhan-hyung and Yixing-hyung went ahead of us. Jongdae-hyung and Zitao-hyung will be on their way soon. The others will be on their way too.” Sehun replies casually.

“The others?” Jongup is curious.

“Oh yeah, you haven’t met the others. We met Kyungsoo-hyung, Baekhyun-hyung, Chanyeol-hyung, Daehyun-hyung, Youngjae-hyung, Yongguk-hyung, JB-hyung, and Jieun-noona through Joonmyeon-hyung during lunch, after you left us to join your brother. You’ll meet them later at lunch.” Jongin assures Jongup, when Jongup looks at him with wide eyes at a list of names. Jongup whispers under his breath, “That’s a lot of hyungs for you guys.”

Jongin does not fail to catch what Jongup says, and laughs before he brings up a different topic. “So, Jongup-ah, what’s the deal between you and your brother? You seemed embarrassed by Himchan-hyung calling you Jonguppie today, when the other day, you hardly seemed fazed with him shouting your name out loud.”

“Er…it’s nothing. I mean, it’s kind of complicated,” Jongup says meekly.

Jongin and Sehun look at each other before looking at Jongup. “Is…there some ‘more-than-personal’ thing going on with you two? Like…incest?” Jongup blinks, unanswering and feeling confused.

“Jongup, whatever you have to say about that, I…er…we totally respect you for that, right, Sehun?” Jongin glances at Sehun, before looking back at Jongup. He tugs Jongup gently with his arm around Jongup’s shoulders.

“Wha…WHAT? NO.” Jongup spins to face Jongin and Sehun, their faces looking baffled. Shaking his head violently, he denies the question. “No, it’s not like that. No. Just no, Jongin-goon. It’s not incest, I swear.” Jongup gulps. He stops, causing the twins to stop as well.

“It’s just…he’s my only sibling that I have. Erm…he’s my only family member, that I have, really.” Jongup looks down.

Both Jongin and Sehun exchange looks of “oh”, as if they are caught listening to a dark secret. “Wow, Jongup…we…didn’t know. We’re sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay…th-they passed away 8 years ago.” Jongup says almost silently, his voice cracking, before he raises his head up to smile. “Himchan-hyung has always taken great care of me, even when we were living with different relatives. It is thanks to him that I’m able to attend college. Hyosung-noona is a close friend of ours, she and Himchan got together for some time after our parents…passed on. Anyway,” he sniffles a bit and blinks. “It’s too early for this kind of talk; we have a class to get to. Shall we?” Jongin and Sehun cannot help but catch Jongup’s eyes slightly watering. They give small smiles at him and nod, continuing on to their class.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Himchan arrives at the music lecture auditorium ten minutes before class starts. He goes down the lecture hall steps to sit in the front row and places his laptop bag under his seat when he hears a throat clearing behind him. He ignores it and thinks the person is just clearing his throat either for the sake of nothing or to talk with someone else. A low voice whispers in his ear, startling Himchan really badly that he jumps out of his seat.

“So, princess, here’s your notebook ‘in pristine condition’, just as you’ve requested.” Himchan whips around in his seat to find Yongguk’s smiling face dangerously close to his face. He quickly jumps in his seat, away from Yongguk, knocking against his neighboring student who also happens to be in deep conversation with his neighbor. After apologizing to the students, Himchan huffs and grits out a “Thank you, _Bang Yongguk_ ” as he regains his composure and snatches his notebook from Yongguk, who is holding it out with two hands in the same manner as a knight would present a gift to a queen. Yongguk replies with a wink and an “Mhm, and _thank you_ , Himchannie.”

Himchan stares at him in disbelief before turning around to face the front. He looks down at his notebook and opens it, scanning the pages for any damages. Not wanting to admit it, he is surprised that there are no ripped pages nor scribbled notes. He nods to himself and turns to a new page for writing. With at least five minutes left before class starts, Himchan pulls out a book to read, William Shakespeare’s _As You Like It_.

 _A tap on Himchan’s right shoulder._ He turns his head around, thinking it is his neighbor…

 _Boop…._ Himchan’s cheek collides with a lean finger, and it _hurts._

Knowing exactly who is behind him, Himchan sucks his cheeks inward to avoid yelling at Yongguk and, taking a deep breath, he ignores him and continues to find the line that he was reading in the book before he got distracted.

 _Few seconds later, a tap on Himchan’s left shoulder._ He turns his head again….

 _Boop…_ Himchan’s other cheek collides with a lean finger; once again, Himchan gets fooled. He hears a chuckle behind him, and he takes another deep breath to control whatever dignity he has left inside of him.

“I would appreciate it if you would cease doing that, Yongguk-sshi. You see, I am busy reading my book,” Himchan growls as he glares at the culprit. Yongguk chuckles and replies, “Alright, I will stop. After all, ‘the fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.’” Yongguk says the quote in perfect English and Himchan’s eyes widen. _Did he just quote Shakespeare now?_ Himchan thinks to himself.

“’I do desire we may be better strangers,’” The English words slip out of Himchan’s mouth and it only takes a few seconds for Himchan to realize what he has just done. He clears his mind and stares at Yongguk, who is grinning at him as he says a familiar quote, a popular one that when everyone hears it, they know the title of the book already.

“’All the world’s a stage, my friend,” Yongguk ad-libs a bit, still in perfect English, “and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time…”

“ – Plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.” Himchan mouths the rest of the line in awed silence as Yongguk finishes. “You’ve read this before?” Switching back to Korean, he brings up his Shakespeare book to show to Yongguk. Yongguk nods and answers, “It is one of my favorite books from Shakespeare.”

“Same for me,” Himchan eyes Yongguk warily. “What others do you like? Romeo and Juliet?” He scoffs because he assumes people would love the overrated ones.

“Come on, two teenagers falling in love and wanting to get married despite their families’ wishes as well as their families’ rivaling reputations, and even more so willing to put their lives at stake? They’re only teenagers, Himchannie. That one is okay, but I prefer Hamlet, All’s Well that Ends Well, The Tempest, The Two Noble Kinsmen, and Twelfth Night. Those with war and conflicts.”

“Oh my god,” Himchan breathes. “You really do know Shakespeare. You’ve thrown me off guard, because you do _not_ seem like the type of person to read th-”

“Okay, class is about to start. Let us listen to the music once again from last Tuesday.” The booming voice of the professor startles Himchan and Yongguk from their dialogue as he enters the classroom. The two students regain their composure and are ready to take notes, Himchan putting away his book. For the rest of the duration of the class, Himchan feels a little distracted, looking back at the moment when Yongguk was reciting the lines from Himchan’s favorite book. The way Yongguk gazed at him. The sexy, low and husky voice that washed over Himchan’s very inner soul, and Himchan cannot help but shudder in his seat, bringing himself to reality in an instant.

As an excuse to look attentive in class, Himchan waits for anyone behind him to ask a question or answer the professor’s question when really, he wants to sneak a peek at Yongguk. _Wait, what am I doing?,_ Himchan frets in his mind as he looks away from Yongguk for the seventh time to pay attention to the professor’s lectures of not-so-famous traditional songs. _This is not like me to do that, thanks to that…nincompoop. But he’s not so bad, he knows Shakespeare…That voice…Oh man, it’s really sooth…Agh, stop. STOP. HYOSUNG. Yes, I have Hyosung. I like her, I mean, I love her…do I love her?.....she’s fun and funny, she’s cool, she’s cute, she’s gorgeous... I love her, right?_

 _…Right?_ Himchan widens his eyes in shock at his internal conflict.

… _Good Lord._

“ – and your partner will be submitting a project due by the end of the first half of the term, in 3 months. That will be all, class dismissed.”

Himchan gasps with a start, when he hears students bustling out of their seats, ready to leave the auditorium. With another gasp, he is struck with realization that he has not paid much attention today and he looks at his notes. _The heck?!_

Somewhere along his notes, Himchan starts to see the names ‘Yongguk’ and ‘Bang Yongguk’ appearing in his sentences. He notices that he has drawn little hearts and musical notes. Reddening, he shuts his notebook quickly, hoping no one sees it. He looks around for the professor, but to his bad luck, he just sees the professor leaving out the door. He does not move from his seat, still in shock.

“Will this knight in shining armor have the honor to collaborate with Princess Himchan on this task expected in three moons’ time?” A voice comes up to him, and Himchan gulps, his eyes darting to his left to see Yongguk making a deep bow with a smirk.

As quickly as Himchan can compose himself, he scoffs and looks away. He gets up from his seat and starts gathering his stuff, except for his notebook, into his laptop bag. He retorts, “You wish. And what did I tell you about ‘princess’? Like hell I would work with you, I’d rather work with an ogre than with you. I’ll find someone else to work with, thank you very much.”

Slinging his laptop bag over his shoulder, Himchan looks up and around the auditorium. There is hardly anyone else around, only a few people who seem to have already teamed up. Knowing that there is no other choice, Himchan deeply sighs and bows his head, turning his head slightly to see if Yongguk is still there. _Of course he is, that…devil,_ Himchan mutters in his mind, looking away once again. _Is he gonna chuckle and give me that smirk or that gummy smile that I absolutely despise?_ Himchan turns around to face Yongguk, saying “fine, looks like I have no choice but to jo-“

Himchan is surprised at what he sees.

Yongguk is watching him with some kind of unreadable expression; Himchan is not sure if Yongguk is keeping a straight face or if he is trying to keep a straight face.

“Do you really hate me that much? It’s just a project, we don’t have to be ‘friendsy’ or anything, consider us classmates and nothing else.”

Himchan’s jaw slightly drops in disbelief. He starts to redden out of shame, and gulps. “N-no, I…er…don’t hate you. It’s just…uhm…I…” Trailing off to avoid any longer eye contact, Himchan’s eyes starts to follow downward to trace the outline of Yongguk’s face, jawline, neck, Adam’s apple, arms – _those arms, oh dear god_ – hands, and down to the ground, skipping Yongguk’s lower body parts. He breathes in with a hiss, feeling something stirring in his stomach, realizing what he has done. “I’m sorry, I gotta go. I’ll see you later.” He quickly leaves Yongguk, unaware that he has left his notebook at his chair.

“Wait! I don’t have your contact information!” Yongguk moves to stop him but Himchan has gone up the stairs with lightning speed and is out of the classroom. He looks to Himchan’s chair and sees that the notebook is lying on top of the chair. Yongguk grabs the notebook and runs up the stairs, following Himchan.

“Wait! Your notebook! Himchan! Moon Himchan!” Once Yongguk reaches outside of the classroom, he looks around to find his classmate but to no avail. “Crap, how will I give this back to him?” He walks to the nearest bench and sits down, looking at Himchan’s notebook in his hand. He stares at it for the longest time, and he figures, _Maybe his contact information is in here_.

Yongguk looks around, feeling a little guilty and hoping that he will not get caught by Himchan. He opens the notebook gingerly to the first page, and sees nothing but “Property of: Moon Himchan”. He checks the next page and it is already the start of Himchan’s notes.

 _Ahh, what kind of person writes “Property of (name)” on the first page, this isn’t primary school anymore…,_ Yongguk scowls. _But it is kind of cute, though. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to see what Himchan wrote for notes today, I might have missed out on some key points._ He leafs through the pages to the current date, and his jaw drops at what he sees. Yongguk stares at his own name written across the page with little hearts and musical notes, and some English words from Shakespeare. Feeling a little embarrassed, he closes it hastily.

Blinking, Yongguk still recalls the image of Himchan’s notes with his names on it, and an air of giddiness fills his chest. He chuckles to himself as he puts Himchan’s notebook into his laptop bag. “So, Moon Himchan, looks like you’re falling for me. You can’t deny it.” He then heads to his next class that only lasts 50 minutes, feeling a little giddier by the minutes.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Himchan is sitting down at a bench after having exited out of the classroom and hurriedly walking around the campus for no reason. He opens his laptop bag when a sickening feeling creeps on him. He searches around his laptop bag, thinking that something is missing from his bag, and that is when he freezes mid-action. His eyes are slowly widening as a realization strikes him.

“NO. Oh my god, NO NO nonononononono NO,” he whispers out in a horrified voice, “Please don’t tell me I seriously forgot my notebook.” Himchan frantically searches every nook and cranny of his laptop bag and it confirms his thoughts that he truly did forget his notebook back in the classroom. Slapping his forehead, he freaks out and looks around for his classroom building.

Another gasp. _What if Yongguk found out? Ohmygodthisisnothappening._ Mentally cursing himself, Himchan moans in dismay, praying that Yongguk has not opened it, or anyone else for that matter. Chanting _pleasepleaseletitstillbethere,_ he picks up his laptop bag and runs to his classroom building, ignoring the stares from the people around him.

When Himchan gets there, the classroom is empty. He moans out loud in despair and walks out of the classroom to bang his head against the wall. _Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot,_ he chants to himself. _I have a project I’m supposed to start on today and I don’t even have my freaking notebook. Dammit._

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Hyosung is driving to Himchan and Jongup’s college after her interview is finished. She feels she has done well and her teacher has been most certain that Hyosung will be automatically hired as a teacher assistant, notifying her that a phone call will be made within next week.

Once Hyosung parks in the visitor’s parking lot, she gets out of the car and makes her way to the Food Court when suddenly, on her way to the Food Court, she sees a glimpse of someone familiar, sitting on a bench reading something. Staring at her, she recognizes the female student to be the same one she saw two days ago during lunch. Feeling like she is being watched, the student looks up and they make eye contact. Something inside Hyosung’s chest is stirring as she continues to hold her gaze. Then the female student gives a faint smile before looking away. Hyosung cannot fight the feeling that she looks familiar, and decides to take initiative and get to know this person.

“Excuse me,” Hyosung walks over to the seated female student. The female looks up and quickly looks down. “Excuse me,” Hyosung repeats and the female looks up slowly at her. “Hi, do I know you? ‘Cause you know, you look familiar.”

The female side-glances both sides before looking up at her. “Uhm? No?” She slowly shakes her head and looks down to continue reading her notebook.

Hyosung blushes, remembering that she has just made a blunt question. “I’m sorry for being rude,” she apologizes, bringing the seated lady’s attention to her once again. “My name is Jun Hyosung. I’m an alumna at a nearby college, but my boyfriend attends here and his brother too. What’s your name?”

The student continues to stare at her, before her eyes widens at the memory of knowing someone named “Jun Hyosung” back in high school. She closes her notebook and asks, “ _Unnie_?”

 _Whoa, totally was not expecting that,_ Hyosung stiffens up at the spot. She racks her brain to remember who this lady is that calls her ‘unnie’. “Y-yes?”

Jieun gasps excitedly, standing up. “It’s me! Jieun! Song Jieun!” Hyosung gasps and points at her, remembering Jieun. “UNNIE, WE WERE LIKE, BEST FRIENDS BACK IN HIGH SCHOOL. Madonna High School! Remember? Oh my god, unnie, I haven’t heard from you in a long time!” Both girls are squealing and hopping on the spot, and Jieun tackles Hyosung with a hug.

“Omo, omo, FOR REAL?! I KNEW IT. Aigoo, how’s _maknae_ Jieunnie been??” Hyosung pulls away from Jieun to look at her face, and she tucks Jieun’s hair behind Jieun’s ear. “Omo, look at you! You’re so pretty, Unnie is jealous…but even more happy to see you again!” Hyosung returns the hug.

“Unnie, why have you not been in touch with us these past what, _seven_ years since you left high school? Hana-unnie, Sunhwa and I have been worried about you, and thought you had forgotten about us already.” Jieun brings Hyosung to sit down on the bench.

“No, it’s not that. I’m sorry for making you guys worry but since a month after I graduated, my life has been one crazy ride. My family and I had to move to the States for two years because of my dad’s work,” Hyosung says sadly. “I was not able to keep in touch with you guys because it was pretty complicated to call overseas. I was stupid to not realize then that I didn’t have your emails. I tried to find your contact information in my contact log, but I had lost my log before we left here. When we came back, I was able to see my family friends but they could not find my contact log. A few months later, my dad got laid off because the company was going bad. However, he found a construction job and we were able to live well with our money. I went off to college and studied dancing, then my father passed away…from cancer…” Hyosung trails off, staring into space as she recalls the memory. Jieun gasps softly, her hand clasping her friend’s hand consolingly.

“He had been fighting it for two years…I knew he had cancer in my 2nd year of college. He didn't want me to quit college, said he would fight to see me walk the stage, so I kept studying. It was a long battle, but he passed away a few weeks before I graduated. He didn’t get to see me walk the stage and get my diploma…” Tears start running down Hyosung’s cheeks, and Jieun lifts her free hand to wipe them off. Startled, Hyosung brings her free hand to wipe off her tears as well, chuckling weakly. “After that, my mom, sister and I worked hard to keep ourselves financially intact. My father had not much of a fortune to leave us with, so we were left with hard work. My sister helped my mom at the flower shop and I sought a part time job while attending college. After all the hard work, I finished my grad degree and here I am! I actually just came back from a job interview at my former college, as a teacher assistant in Modern Dance; so hopefully I get the job. But unnie didn’t forget about you guys, I’m extremely sorry for not being able to keep in touch with you all.” She wipes off any tears left, still smiling.

“Ah, unnie, it’s okay. You’ve had quite a roller coaster of life. I’m so sorry to hear about your dad.” Jieun hugs Hyosung, forgiving her. “Hana-unnie, Sunhwa and I still keep in touch regularly. We have our own busy lives but we still make some time aside for us to meet up and catch up with what’s been going on. I’ll tell them later today when I stop by!”

“Oh please do! I’d be thrilled to see them again!” Hyosung exclaims, and she lifts her hand once again to rake her fingers through Jieun’s brown hair. “Aigoo, you still look so pretty with this hair…I hadn’t recognized you earlier, two days ago during lunch…I was thinking to myself, _Why does this young lady look so familiar? I cannot recall her name._ And here we are!” Hyosung giggles, and Jieun joins in.

“I was like that too, unnie! I saw you with Moon Himchan that day and I had the same thought in my head!”

Hyosung stops mid-action. “What, Moon Himchan? You know who he is?”

Jieun stops too. “Himchan? Yeah, he’s quite the popular guy around here by reputation. People talk about him in the music department. It’s hard not to ignore. Why, how do you know him?”

“He’s my…boyfriend. Well, family friend first, and then boyfriend,” Hyosung replies.

“O-oh…” Jieun looks away, remembering that her boyfriend, Yongguk, wants to woo Himchan. She feels a bit troubled. “I see. Unnie, I have to go, I’m sorry. It’s been really wonderful to see you again! Here’s my number and my email. Call or text me, and I would love to set up a lunch group date with the four of us again!” Jieun takes out a piece of paper from her notebook and writes her phone number and email on it. She hands it to Hyosung, who looks a little shocked, but happily takes the paper.

“Bye, unnie! I’ll see you around!” Jieun waves as she leaves Hyosung at the bench, and Hyosung is left thinking, _what was that about?_

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

After their science lecture class has ended around 10:50, Jongup, Jongin and Sehun are walking around on campus, going over some dance routines. Jongin asks Jongup what his dance routine song will be, since Jongup has heard them rehearse to Justin Bieber’s _Boyfriend_ . Jongup replies with the song, Chris Brown’s _Wall to Wall_.

Just moments after Jongup replies, he catches sight of the dirty blond-haired guy and the black-haired guy from last Tuesday, with their hands moving at the speed of light. The duo seems to be making their way towards the trio and sure enough, the dirty blond haired guy turns his head to look straight at Jongup. Jongup cannot suppress a shudder. He stammers, looking away to face Jongin and Sehun, “U-um..Jongin-goon, Sehun-goon, I’m sorry. I-I have to go. See you later.” Jongup suddenly bolts without Jongin and Sehun stopping him, his heart hammering in his chest.

Jongup happens to run past Himchan on his way to the Food Court. Himchan beckons Jongup to stand close to him before he gives Hyosung a call. He lets her know that they got out of class early and will be at the Food Court for the next few hours or so, before they have classes at 1PM. Hyosung informs him that she is already here and will be on her way to meet them. Himchan closes his phone and puts it in his pocket.

“Jonguppie-yah, why were you running? Were you that excited for food?” Himchan teases, slipping an arm over Jongup’s shoulders.

“N-no, it wasn’t that. I…saw…him today. I’m just nervous to meet him, hyung.”

“Oh, that guy from Tuesday? Hmm… Funny you should mention that, I had myself in a awkward situation with Yongguk this morning in class.”

“Why, what happened?”

“Oh, hyung was a little out of it today, didn’t pay attention in class because _Yongguk_ , it seems, has a reading interest in Shakespeare, and then I find out that I’m working on a project with _him_ due in three months’ time and I realize that I have a funny feeling whenever _his name_ runs through my mind…and oh yeah, I didn’t realize I had left my notebook in class until 15 minutes _after_ class ended and when I came back, it’s not there and you know what’s even worse?”

Lifting his arm from Jongup as he steps away from his brother, Himchan pauses his rambling with a dramatic mock-glare at Jongup, “I even _wrote_ Yongguk’s name a few times in my notebook, and I wasn't aware of what I was doing. Even _more_ worse, Yongguk must have been the only one left in the classroom when my notebook was around.” He crosses his arms in frustration.

Jongup looks at his brother pitifully, “H-hyung, it’ll be okay. He probably won’t know that you wrote his name. It would be stupid to pry around other people’s things without their permission.” He grips his brother’s hands. “Calm down, hyung. It’ll be all right. Maybe there’s a chance he doesn’t know.”

Himchan stares at his brother. “So you’re saying there’s a chance he might know about it. Jonguppie-yah, if you haven’t noticed, we’re all adults here. Most of us aren’t goody-two-shoes and I’m _pretty sure_ Yongguk will be curious to read my notebook _again_ , and he will know about my stupid doodles.” He moans, and he feels Jongup wrapping his arms around him, giving him a hug, assuring him it will be okay.

Few moments pass as the Moon brothers stand there in the embrace, and Jongup reminds Himchan, “Erm…hyung, should we head to the Food Court? Hyosung-noona might be there already.”

“Oh yeah! Right. Hyosung.” Himchan shakes himself out of a daze, remembering who Hyosung is, _his_ girlfriend. _Oh my god, what am I even thinking? WHY am I even thinking this way now!? Ugh, this isn’t happening. That Bang Yongguk. Everything’s starting to change because of him; I can just feel it._

The Moon brothers then make their way to meet Hyosung, and when they see her, Himchan gives her a quick peck on the lips. Jongup and Hyosung are surprised at the mere, yet bold, gesture of affection, because Himchan says so himself he never wants to kiss in public.

Hyosung looks at him a little funny, noticing how jumpy Himchan looks. “Honey, are you having a weird start today?” Jongup answers for his brother and explains what he has heard from Himchan’s rambling.

“Hyung left his notebook in class and part of the reason was that he was being inattentive in class due to talking with Yongguk-sshi about Shakespeare. He said it’s been a weird start, and what’s even worse, he says, is that even though Yongguk can be annoying sometimes, a part of hyung admires him. He even wro– mmerfpphh.” When he is about to explain that Himchan wrote Yongguk’s name on his notebook, Himchan flails and rushes to Jongup to cover his mouth before Jongup can spill any further.

Hyosung looks startled at Himchan’s quirky behavior and Jongup looks up at his brother. Himchan nervously laughs and says, ”Yeah, I’m just antsy about the project because I don’t have my notebook or Yongguk’s contact info since we’re partners for the project, that’s all.”

Hyosung raises her eyebrow dubiously. “Uh-huh, yeah I’m not buying it, Himchannie. What’s up with you and this Yongguk? Sweetie, come on. You can trust me. I was your best friend even before I was your girlfriend, you know.” Hyosung grabs ahold of Himchan’s free hand and rubs her thumb on his knuckles, hoping that will calm him down.

Himchan bites his lip as he sneaks a downward glance at Jongup and gives in, “I’ll tell you in a little bit. Do you wanna eat here or outside of campus?”

“Outside of campus, I found a great tea place nearby. You guys will like it; they have salt and pepper chicken bites there.”

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh…”

“Yeah…this is such a stupid dilemma for me right now,” Himchan closes his eyes, shaking his head slowly. Hyosung can only glance between Jongup and Himchan, blinking as she absorbs the new information.

The three of them are at a Tea Stay café, seated at a table booth near the glass wall façade. They have been there for about 30 minutes, with Himchan narrating most of the time. Hyosung tries her best to keep her reactions civil and subtle, noticing how there are a lot of people but the noise level is surprisingly not really loud for a busy café.

“W-well…is it just Yongguk…or guys in general that you like?” Hyosung asks weakly.

“Just Yongguk, defini-…It’s just Yongguk. You know me, I’ve been straight my whole life, and now I’m feeling a mixture of being crazy, comfortable, grouchy and maybe even _awkward_ – how do these opposing emotions even work out? – with him, and only him. His blunt flirtings, cockine- well, he’s got that little bit of a sadist thing maybe, but definitely on the cockiness. Oh, and the fact that he _knows_ Shakespeare _. He. Knows. Shakespeare’s works. And. Actually. Enjoys. Them._ ” Himchan jabs his finger on the table with every word he says, and Jongup is watching each and every bounce of his brother’s finger.

“Well, some at least. I mean, do you know… how many people out there — besides me — that appreciate his works, I mean _REALLY_ appreciate his works?!” he mutters with disbelief. “Hyosung, you gotta help me. What am I supposed to do here? Tell him to leave me alone? But I can’t. My heart tells me something otherwise that Yongguk’s more than just a cocky classmate, but I don’t really want to acknowledge that. And I even have you, too, Hyosung. Ugh…he just had to make things complicated for me. Help me, Hyosung.” Himchan grips the table, knuckles turning white. Jongup watches his brother warily, no longer eating his chicken bites.

Hyosung shakes her head grimly. “I can’t. It’s something you have to figure on your own. I’m not saying that we’re over, just…you need to figure this out on your own. I cannot know what you’re feeling all the time, but I’ll be with you anyway. You can be straight, gay, or bisexual. Obviously you just said it is just Yongguk so it could place you as bisexual or maybe just gay for him only. And I just don’t want to see you get hurt, that’s all. I know I’m your girlfriend, Himchan, and I was even your best friend before we got into a relationship. If it happens that we have to end this, you’ll feel like the one suffering from this, because you will think that it was a relationship wasted. Let me assure you, it is not. Regardless of our relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend, the relationship of best friends is still there, and that’s much more important.” She takes a sip of her tea. “If you have feelings for Yongguk and you still have feelings for me, that’s fine only if you are happy being with both Yongguk and I. If you have feelings for him alone and you no longer have feelings for me, that’s still fine, again only if you’re happy with him, and as long as we can still be friends afterwards.”

Himchan stares at a small spot on the table, Hyosung’s words sinking into his brain. “Okay…You promise you’ll be with me though, as my girlfriend and-slash-or as my best friend?” Hyosung nods, smiling a bit.

“Himchan-ah, you know you’re quite popular among the people in the Music Department? I ran into an old friend from high school who told me she knows your name because you are one of the hot topics in the Music Building.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m aware of that…”

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Jieun meets with Yongguk and the group when it is around noontime. When she hears that they will be joining Joonmyeon’s group, she does not hesitate to agree. Once they are seated with Joonmyeon and his group, taking over four tables like two days earlier, Jieun talks with Yongguk. She brings up the subject of Himchan.

“Yonggukie, what news do you have on Himchan?”

Yongguk stares at Jieun, interested in why the subject is brought up. Youngjae and JB also happen to catch that bit and watch them. Only Kyungsoo, Daehyun, Chanyeol and Baekhyun are not paying attention, the Deaf duo interacting with Yixing, Jongdae and Zitao, while Baekhyun and Chanyeol chat with Jongin, Sehun, Joonmyeon, and Luhan.

“Well…Himchan and I will be working on a project due in 3 months, and he likes Shakespeare. Turns out, he might have written something in his notebook –“ Yongguk pulls out Himchan’s notebook out of his laptop bag, “ – that concerns my name on it.”

“Wha, hyung, did you _snoop_ around in his notebook?” Youngjae snaps. Yongguk whips around and shushes him.

“It’s not _snooping_ …it’s _re-reading_! I was reading it again, technically, for the second time.” This earns Yongguk a disapproving headshake from Youngjae.

Jieun feels half-conflicted and half-interested with how things are suddenly turning tables, remembering her conversation with Hyosung. She sneaks a peek in Himchan’s notebook, despite Youngjae’s protests of “no, noona, what are you doing?” and “stop, you’re invading his privacy!”, when she finds a page that has several “Bang Yongguk”s written into the notes, with hearts and musical notes. She sees some English words and recognizes a few of them to be Shakespearean English. Feeling that it is not her who is to decide on the relationship, she says nothing and changes the subject.

“So, tell me more about this project you’ll be working on with Himchan.”

“Oh, so this project involves interaction and exposure to musical styles…So I was thinking maybe since Himchan has a strong traditional musical background with the instruments, and I have a strong western musical background, we could try mainstreaming it and create a new hybrid genre.”

“Whoa, that sounds cool, hyung!” JB says, impressed. “I’d like to hear what you guys have in mind later on.”

“Yeah, you bet. Anyway, Himchan looked like he wasn’t paying attention in class, which was strange, because you mentioned that he was pretty much a model student. I tried to tell Himchan, but he quickly left, forgetting his notebook in the process.”

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

After the group has eaten lunch and part ways for their classes, Kyungsoo and Daehyun are walking with Jongin, Sehun, Jongdae and Zitao. When the latter two have split from the group, Kyungsoo finds himself walking with Daehyun to class in the same direction that Jongin and Sehun are heading to.

“Erm…what’s the class – or classes – that you guys have? Daehyun and I have Geography of South Korea class only on Thursdays, and this is the second time we meet with the class. It’s a hybrid class, using online and offline seminars.” Kyungsoo signs and talks at the same time, glancing between Daehyun and the twins.

Kyungsoo spots a faint twitch in Jongin’s face, as Jongin smirks. “Geography of South Korea, hm? Well it sounds like a fun subject, hyung. Sehun has history class while I have…world geography. We’ll see you around, Sehun and I have to use the restroom.”

Daehyun waves as Jongin and Sehun take their leave. Kyungsoo and Daehyun go to their class, and they see Hyoyeon and Doojoon seated against the front wall, facing the classroom, as they talk among themselves. Daehyun and Kyungsoo know it is not their business to know what their interpreters are talking about because they see that their interpreters are not signing and talking at the same time. They take their seats near the interpreters, waiting for the professor to arrive.

“Sehun, I told you for the last time, I do not have your homework. It’s probably in your backpack, look for it.”

Kyungsoo gasps as he sees Jongin coming into the class, talking on his cell phone. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Daehyun sneaking a questioning glance at him, wondering if Kyungsoo knew Jongin has been in this class ever since day one. Kyungsoo side glances at Daehyun and quickly frowns at him, puzzled. He looks back at Jongin, and receives a little shock.

Jongin is looking right back at him, and he winks at him as he mutters, “I gotta go, bro. Class is about to start.”

With widened eyes, Kyungsoo and Jongin play a staring game as Kyungsoo does not move but continues to watch Jongin pass by him and, as soon as Jongin leaves his range of vision, his eyes drift to look at the interpreters. He hears a chair shifting behind him. Doojoon and Hyoyeon look back at him with raised eyebrows.

Hyoyeon lifts her hand.

{^[HE? THAT GUY YOUR SECOND fs(ROMEO)]^ “?”}  _(Him? That guy is your other Romeo?)_ She cranes her head to look beyond Kyungsoo, acting casually, since Jongin has seated himself right behind him. Her eyes accidently meet with Jongin’s and she nods with a smile in greeting. Looking back at the two deaf students, she maintains that smile.

{NOT BAD}  _(Not bad…)_ Hyoyeon gives a suggestive look.

Kyungsoo and Daehyun glance at Jongin, who is busy getting his notebook and pen out, before they look at each other. Daehyun asks Kyungsoo, [I THOUGHT HE SAY HAVE WORLD EARTH-STUDY. ^(LIE)^] _(I thought Jongin said he had world geography. Was he lying?)._ Kyungsoo shrugs and is about to say something when the professor arrives. The professor is about to announce the agenda and Doojoon starts to interpret when Kyungsoo does a sudden jolt in his seat as if he is electrified. His cell phone has vibrated upon receiving a text. Only the interpreters and few students surrounding Kyungsoo notice Kyungsoo’s spasm, but the teacher has already faced the board to write down the outline. Daehyun automatically looks at him, nudging him with his elbow.

Thinking the text must be from Jongin, Kyungsoo turns around slowly, glaring at him. Jongin gives him a confused look. Kyungsoo’s stare slackens when he remembers in a matter of seconds that he has never given Jongin his phone number. Realizing his mistake, he turns around quickly and checks his phone; it is from Joonmyeon. Wondering why, he unlocks it and reads the message.

To: Park Kyungsoo

From: Kim Joonmyeon

_Hey, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind being an interviewee for my journalism project? Let me know asap if you can._

Kyungsoo’s eyes boggle upon reading “interviewee”. He closes his phone in a hurry, hoping that the professor will not catch him, because the professor is quite conservative with electronics use in classroom. Unfortunately for Kyungsoo, not only had he read it but Daehyun did as well. Daehyun fingerspells to him, hidden away from their interpreters’ eyes, [fs(LOL)], and Kyungsoo bats his hand away, briefly giving his friend a look.

When the professor instructs the classroom to form into groups of three, each group focusing on one geographic feature of South Korea, Kyungsoo feels a foot nudging his ankle. This time, he knows it is from Jongin. He ignores it as he watches his interpreter, knowing that Jongin is at his mercy since Jongin does not know much signs and thus cannot talk with either of them if Kyungsoo refuses to talk to him. Despite failed attempts to get Kyungsoo’s attention with constant prodding of Kyungsoo’s ankle with his foot, Jongin has a sneaky plan.

“You and your group will be working together on a presentation display due in mid-December.”

Kyungsoo sits up a little straighter when he feels a foot sliding upwards on his leg, and he hears Jongin rustling behind him. A whisper in his ear, “Would you mind if I join you and Daehyunnie-hyung, Kyunggiesoo-hyung?”. Shivering slightly, Kyungsoo’s eyes widen at the sound of his nickname and drift to the side, not moving his head. He can see Hyoyeon and Doojoon raising their eyebrows at Jongin’s actions, and turns his head to the left to face Daehyun.

Kyungsoo slightly raises his eyebrows. [^[“YOU-NOT-MIND” *points at Jongin* JOIN-US]^] _(You don’t mind if he joins us?)._ Daehyun raises his eyebrows suggestively. Kyungsoo blinks at him, unaffected. The interpreters are snickering but they restrain any further chuckling when Kyungsoo glares at them and looks back at Daehyun. Jongin feels a little lost at what had been an non-verbal, eyes-only exchange. Daehyun smiles as he raises both of his hands, giving in. [NO, “NOT-MIND”. ^(YOU)^ “?”] _(No, I don’t mind. What about you?)_ Kyungsoo shrugs and shakes his head.

“No we don’t mind; you can join us.” Kyungsoo tells the interpreters to come a little forward because he will be turning around in his seat to face both Daehyun and Jongin.

At first, the group, minus Jongin, are not surprised that Jongin feels awkward the moment he realizes there are two more adults in his group, but they are surprised he learns quickly and understands quickly on the proper way of communication with Kyungsoo, Daehyun, and the interpreters. He has asked the similar questions that Dasom and Chanshik have asked two days previously, about speaking to the appropriate people. Kyungsoo explains that he signs and talks for himself, while Doojoon and Hyoyeon interpret for Daehyun. “You’re only looking at me and Daehyun when we talk, but you can glance at the interpreters for clarification. When you talk, if it concerns us, which would be most of the time, you only look at Daehyun and I. You don’t talk to the interpreters, unless you want to ask them something, because Daehyun and I have the right to know what you say.” Jongin understands quickly and the group falls into a comfortable working group.

The next 45 minutes goes by quickly as the groups use their textbooks to help them research on their geographical feature topics; Kyungsoo and his group are focusing on Hallasan, the highest volcanic mountain located in Jeju Island, at the southernmost island of their nation.

When class is about to be over, the professor reminds the class about their weekly online quiz that needs to be done by upcoming Sunday, just like the last quiz from the past weekend. He then dismisses them and announces he will see them in two weeks Thursday.

Kyungsoo is packing up and is about to leave when he feels a hand grabbing his elbow.

“Hyung?”

Kyungsoo looks around, a little startled that the hand grab was so sudden, and that someone is calling him hyung. He is still not quite used to being called ‘hyung’ after years of being the baby in the family. He admits though, he likes the title. “Yes?”

“Since we’re working together in this project, I was wondering if I might have your number?” Jongin takes out his cell phone.

“Oh yeah…sure. Erm, sorry about earlier. I had a text, and I automatically thought it was you, but it was from Joonmyeon-hyung.” Jongin gives an “oh!” expression at this. “But here’s my number.”

After Kyungsoo gives Jongin his number, Jongin smiles as he puts it away. “Are you done for the day? I’m done with my classes.”

Kyungsoo looks around to see Daehyun standing nearby, waiting for him. The interpreters have already left. Daehyun looks at Kyungsoo with an expectant look, as if asking, _Ready to go home?_ Kyungsoo nods, and informs Jongin that he and Daehyun are also done with their classes.

“Cool! Can I join you guys?”

Kyungsoo looks back at Daehyun, who is giving him the suggestive smile. Knowing that Daehyun has read Jongin’s lips, Kyungsoo gives a deadpanned look at him and shakes his head, rolling his eyes.

Jongin looks between Kyungsoo and Daehyun. “Oh…er…sorry, I didn’t mean to impo-”

“Wha- Oh no no no, it’s fine. No, you’re more than welcome to join us.” Kyungsoo smiles at him. “Jongin-...ah,” he says tentatively and Jongin perks up at the name, looking down at him. Kyungsoo finds it adorable, “let’s go.” _Aigoo, Jongin’s cute,_ Kyungsoo thinks to himself, _there’s a difference between Jongin last Tuesday and Jongin now. He was being quite bold and daring then, but now, he is being adorable._ The three of them head out of the classroom to the open space.

Jongin receives a text from Sehun as he and the deaf duo are walking to the entrance gates. Sehun has texted Jongin that he has a group project meeting today with Jongup, so he will be arriving home late, and that there’s no need to wait for him because Luhan will be taking him home. Jongin replies with an “Ok, see you later. Good luck” text and puts his cell phone away in his pocket. Daehyun taps Kyungsoo and Jongin, “Bai deh wey, yo tween Se’oon wair?” [“?” *He directs his hand towards Jongin* YOUR TWIN fs(SEHUN) v(WHERE)v] _(By the way, where’s your twin, Sehun?)_ Kyungsoo peeks at Jongin, wondering if Jongin understands the question. Jongin seems to look a little puzzled at Daehyun’s garbled voice and slow fingerspelling, but he catches on when he remembers Joonmyeon fingerspelling to him and how Daehyun emphasizes on “your twin, Sehun”.

“Ah, Sehun, my twin?” Jongin points to his own chest. Kyungsoo and Daehyun nod. “He has a…” – Jongin glances at Kyungsoo, unsure if he should continue talking or do something else, but decides to go ahead and talk with clear enunciation whilst looking at Daehyun mostly – “history group project meeting today. He’ll be coming home later, Luhan-hyung is giving him a ride.” Daehyun glances at Kyungsoo as Kyungsoo interprets for Jongin.

“Ohh, okay.” Daehyun nods understandingly.

“Ah, Jongin-ah, where do you live?” Kyungsoo asks.

Jongin gives his address and Kyungsoo stares at him a little funny. “What’s wrong, hyung?”

“That is like right across the street from my siblings’ apartments. How come we never saw each other? Wow.” Kyungsoo feels two vibrations in his pants, and he picks out his cell phone to see texts from Joonmyeon and Baekhyun. He reads his brother’s text first, informing Kyungsoo that he, Youngjae and JB are going out to buy some composition materials and tell Daehyun too; Chanyeol is with them, as well, but Yongguk and Jieun are looking for Himchan because he forgot his notebook and they’d like to give it back to him. Kyungsoo shows his text to Daehyun, who nods after reading it. Jongin asks Kyungsoo curiously, not wanting to be rude.

“Oh, Baekhyun was texting me that he and Chanyeol, JB, and Youngjae are gonna buy some stuff and that Yongguk-hyung and Jieun-noona are looking for someone because apparently he forgot his notebook.” Kyungsoo looks up at Jongin, smiling crookedly. Kyungsoo then checks with Joonmyeon’s text, asking him for his answer to the earlier text. Kyungsoo replies that he will do it, and they can start on it next week or whenever Joonmyeon is ready to interview him. The group has arrived at the entrance gates and Kyungsoo looks down the road where he takes to get to his home. “Himchan sounds like a forgetful person, a little weird too. We saw him at lunch the other day.”

“Himchan-hyung?”

Kyungsoo whips his head around in surprise to look at Jongin. “You know him?” Daehyun catches Kyungsoo’s sudden movement and looks at Jongin, his eyebrow raised. Jongin does a weird motion with his head, tilting it side to side.

“Mmm, not so much as you do either. I know his brother, Jongup, because we’re in some of the same classes and we have the same major. But yeah, I guess you could say I know him.” Jongin ends with a nod.

Daehyun places his hand on Kyungsoo, and Kyungsoo looks at him. “Mebbe ef Yong’oog ‘yug an’ Shee-in noo’ya meet us ‘ere, dey geeb Shongin Himshan nohwboog an’ Shongin geeb to …brodder? – brodder name what?, ah Shongup – he geebim. Wan’ me tess Yong-oog hyug?” [SUPPOSE Y-G <HYUNG> J-E <NOONA> 2-MEET-3 HERE, “GIVE-TO-HIM” *His hand directed toward Jongin* fs<HIMCHAN> HIS BOOK *points to Jongin* “GIVE-TO-OTHER” BROTHER – v(NAME BROTHER)v... fs<JONGUP> – “HE-GIVE-BACK-TO-HIM”. ^[WANT ME TEXT Y-G <HYUNG>]^] _(What if Yongguk-hyung and Jieun-noona meet us here, they can give Himchan’s notebook to Jongin, and he can give it to his…brother? – what’s his brother’s name?, oh, Jongup – and the brother can give it to Himchan. Do you want me to text Yongguk-hyung?)_

Jongin watches Daehyun curiously. He glances at Kyungsoo, who has been silent the whole time except when he raised his hand to spell what Jongin assumes is Jongup’s name. Kyungsoo seems to be nodding thoughtfully, and Daehyun glances at Jongin, making out the perplexed expression on his face. Daehyun quickly taps Kyungsoo and indicates Jongin, because he knows Jongin most likely did not understand a word he said. Kyungsoo jumps with a start and turns around to interpret what Daehyun said, biting his lip before giving him a shy, apologetic smile with his eyes crinkling at the sides.

Jongin stares at Kyungsoo’s lips and the moment Kyungsoo bites his lip, his mind goes numb. It goes blank the moment Kyungsoo smiles, and all Jongin can do is stare at him dumbly before saying distractedly, “Oh, that’s good.”

Kyungsoo looks a little puzzled, but it eases away when he asks Jongin, “Do you have Jongup’s phone number?”

“…”

Kyungsoo stares at Jongin in wonder before he repeats, “…Jongin-ah,” he places his hand on Jongin’s shoulder, shaking him out of his thoughts, “…do you have Jongup’s number? Call him to meet you here.”

“Huh? Oh yeah, yeah…yeah I have his number.” Jongin’s hands scramble his jacket for his cell phone as Kyungsoo looks at Daehyun with a slightly confused look. Daehyun looks at him with an “are you that stupid, Kyungsoo? _Wow._ ” look. Kyungsoo gives Daehyun a wary stare before facing Jongin again. Jongin texts Jongup:

To: Moon Jongup

From: Kim Jongin

_Hey, Jongup-ah, is Himchan-hyung missing his notebook? I know someone who has it. Can you meet me at the gate so I can give it to you? He’s on his way here._

Daehyun sends a text to Yongguk:

To: Guk-hyung

From: Daehyun

_Hyung, are you and Jieun-noona still around on campus? I know someone who can give the notebook back to Himchan. Jongin, Kyungsoo and I are at the entrance gate, please meet us there._

Few seconds later, Daehyun and Jongin receive answers from their recipients. Moments later, Yongguk and Jieun arrive at the gate, with Yongguk holding out Himchan’s notebook. Yongguk gives the notebook to Jongin and, thanking him, goes to leave with Jieun. Daehyun also tags along, bidding Kyungsoo and Jongin goodbye and telling them that he will see them tomorrow.

As Jongin and Kyungsoo wait for Jongup, the two of them stand around, glancing at each other. Jongin’s hands itch to wrap around Kyungsoo and he wants to just stand behind him, cuddling with him, but Jongin will not let himself lose control. _It has been two days since we met, how do you think Kyungsoo-hyung would feel?_ He frowns.

Jongin is shaken out of his thoughts when he hears Jongup coming towards the duo, his backpack rustling, “Jongin-goon! Hey there.” Jongup has a brightest smile on his face, and Jongin can only wonder what it is that Jongup has on his mind that constantly makes him be in such a bright mood.

“Oh, hello. I’m Moon Jongup, 18 years old.” Losing his smile in an instant, Jongup bows politely to Kyungsoo before the smile comes back on like a lightbulb.

“Ah, my name is Park Kyungsoo…er…20 years old.” Kyungsoo bows back, looking at Jongup questioningly about the age issue.

“Oh, you’re one of the hyungs that Jongin-goon was telling me about. Nice to meet you, Kyungsoo-hyungnim.”

“Ah, no, please call me hyung.” Slowly, Jongup’s bright personality infects Kyungsoo as he grins; he is really starting to enjoy the ‘hyung’ title.

“Okay, Kyungsoo-hyung. Jongin-goon, you said you have Himchan-hyung’s notebook?”

Jongin nods, already holding it out. “Here, I bet Himchan-hyung will be relieved.” Jongup takes the notebook and puts it in his backpack.

“He will be, haha…he was freaking out almost the whole day. By any chance, did this person who gave you the notebook happen to be Yongguk-sshi?”

Jongin and Kyungsoo blink, before they nod.

“Ahh, I thought so. Hyung told me that when he forgot his notebook, and Yongguk was the only one there, so he must have had it,” Jongup explains. “Did he…tell you if he looked through it?” Jongin and Kyungsoo look at each other before shaking their heads, saying “no”.

“Oh okay, well thanks for returning the notebook! Kyungsoo-hyung, it was nice to meet you! I will see you guys around!” Jongup waves before turning around, going back the way he came from.

Jongin and Kyungsoo make their way back home, opening up to each other about some things here and there. Jongin refuse to lose self-restraint whenever their hands brush each other as they walk, or whenever they look at each other and laugh at the jokes they make.

When the boys have arrived at Kyungsoo’s apartment building, Jongin looks at his building across the street and sighs before turning around.

“Well, I guess this is our stop. I’ll see you tomorrow, hyung.” Jongin extends his hand for a handshake.

Kyungsoo stares at Jongin’s hand incredulously before looking up. He reaches up to lightly pinch Jongin’s cheek in a playful manner, and it shocks Jongin. “Yah, Jongin-ah, I’m your _hyung_ , not your _boss_.” Kyungsoo pats Jongin’s cheek on the same spot where he pinched it. “Come here.”

**_Warm sensation shrouds Jongin’s body as arms wrap around him and he can feel the body of Kyungsoo pressed against him…_ **

Jongin’s heart beats rapidly, hardly believing that right now at this moment, he is being hugged by his hyung that he has only known for two days. He awkwardly hugs back, not sure what to do.

When Kyungsoo pulls back, he smiles and ruffles Jongin’s head. “See you tomorrow, Jongginnie-ah. Do your homework and sleep well tonight.” Kyungsoo opens the door, entering through. Before he closes it, his head peeks out. “Look both ways before you cross, okay? Hyung cares about you.”

_Oh…_

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

On Friday, Jongup is searching for the dirty blond guy during his breaks. He feels bad that he chickened out yesterday when all that the blond guy did was look at him. He is walking around on campus for no reason when he sees the familiar figure, joined with the same black haired guy from yesterday, a girl and a guy. The female and male students seem to be inexperienced with their hands, talking most of the time.

Jongup finds a bench to sit down on and takes out his iPod, listening to music. He glances, with a rapid beating heart, to the group as the dirty blond guy laughs and gesticulates with his friends. He does not make any move to come up to them, just watches _him_ . When he finds out that they are heading his way, he moves around on his bench with his back to them. He bobs his head to the music and stares blankly ahead. He can hear a faint chatter from the group. The closer the group nears toward Jongup, the less self-control he has to keep from constantly glancing at them. When they walk by without any sign of acknowledging him, Jongup lets out a breath that he does not know he has been holding. _Next time_ , he decides, _walk up to him and get to know him._

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone has mixed feelings for the weekend to their long school week. It is a weekend of homework for the students. Some of them meet up to work together and help each other out with other subjects. Some work together on their projects or choreographies.

Jieun and Sunhwa are heading to the Bangs’ apartment that Saturday while Yongguk and Junhong are out skateboarding and visiting the arcade. Sunhwa has no clue why Jieun is being ecstatic, wanting to hear what is it that makes Jieun be like this. Once they are invited into the apartment, Jieun tells Hana and Sunhwa of her encounter with Hyosung, and they are shocked to hear that Hyosung is alive and well, that her father has passed away a few years ago, and that her boyfriend is Moon Himchan. Hana recognizes the name, Moon Himchan, because Yongguk would often talk about him – “He sounds a bit lovesick whenever he brings up that name, giddy and gummy smiles and all that,” Hana brushes the air with a flick of her wrist.

“Jieun-ah, let’s invite Hyosung-unnie next weekend for our lunch date. It’ll be just like the old days, SECRET TIME~” Sunhwa singsongs. The girls laugh and agree to settle a lunch reunion date for next weekend with Hyosung.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Monday afternoon, Jongup finds himself listening to music as he looks around for the familiar guy. Jongin and Sehun have gone to practice their routine for the dance audition. Jongup has it lucky; he does not have a partner to collaborate with, because the audition gives the option to work solo and that is what he chose to do. Lost in his thoughts and music, Jongup accidently bumps into someone.

“Oh, sorr…”

Jongup backs up as he is about to apologize, smiling brightly, and when he looks at the person, he freezes in his tracks. His smile drops.

_It is him…the guy he has been looking for._

With his mind in a state of a mess, Jongup bows in apology and leaves the guy, walking past him and not looking back, his flustered head hanging low.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Daehyun has excused himself from Kyungsoo, Dasom and Chanshik as he makes his way to the restroom in the nearby classroom building. He looks around as he watches the sun shine its light on the trees and the birds flitting here and there. Distracted by the bunny that just happens to come out of the bush nearby, he turns at a corner when he accidently bumps into someone.

Startled, Daehyun looks at the person in front of him. His eyes widen at the precious sight of a guy with such a bright smile. All of a sudden, the guy looks flustered and speechless, before he bows quickly and leaves Daehyun. Unable to stop him, Daehyun can only watch as he stumbles a bit and walks in a hurry, with his head hanging low. He feels so bad for not being able to say anything at the time of the incident but, when he saw the guy smiling for a brief moment, Daehyun thinks how he has seen the most adorable and handsome guy ever.

Chuckling to himself, he looks back at the bunny. It has a gigantic white spot on the side of its brown fur. It turns its head to look at Daehyun, its nose twitching. Daehyun smiles and makes his way to the classroom building for a restroom.

Later, Daehyun tells Kyungsoo about a guy he likes and how he wants to know his name. He describes the guy to have brown hair, the eyes that make his face look angelic and precious, and the smile so bright and infectious. He hopes to see him again.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday is hardly eventful until Wednesday arrives, bringing news of surprise and of playfulness.

Yongguk finds himself sitting at a table with Youngjae, JB, Jieun, Daehyun, Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Joonmyeon, as they gather for lunch. Jongdae and Zitao have gone with Sehun, Jongin, Luhan, and Yixing for lunch outside of campus.

“So hyung, have you succeeded?” [<HYUNG>, ^(YOU SUCCEED)^ “?”]

Yongguk stares at Youngjae in puzzlement. He blinks at him, before looking over at Jieun and the others, all having the same expression of confusion. “With what?” [v(MEAN)V] _(What do you mean?)_

“You don’t remember? What you said last week?” [sh(v(REMEMBER)^)) LAST-WEEK SAY SOMETHING]

Yongguk shifts his focus to the side, as if in thought, his eyebrows furrowing. “Uhm…what did I say last week?” [fs(UMM) v(WHAT SAY)v]

Youngjae clears his throat. “‘I got a target on someone today, and I’ll try to get him to like me by the end of this month.’” [“Quotation-marks” ‘TODAY TRY FLIRT-WITH SOMEONE, HOPE END-OF-MONTH SUCCEED’]. Youngjae looks at Yongguk, expecting an answer. “It’s already the end of the month, hyung. Have you succeeded in getting Himchan?” [NOW FINISH MONTH. ^[SUCCEED CATCH fs<HIMCHAN>]^ “?”]

“Oh that one…” [THAT] Yongguk shifts in his seat, feeling his determination being shot down. “N-no…not yet. But hey, I don’t care. I know Himchan is denying his feelings for me, but forget about the ‘end-of-the-month’ thing. Until Himchan confesses his love for me, I’ll wait, no matter how long it’ll take.” [sh[NO, YET.] BUT *shrugs* nh[KNOW fs<HIMCHAN> FEELING “PUT-ASIDE”... FORGET THAT I SAY “END-OF-MONTH”. ~(WHEN HE CONFESS)~ NOT-KNOW. nh(WAIT WILL)]

“Yah, what about me, Yonggukkie?” Jieun jokes.

“Ain’t no other woman for me than you, babe. You know I still love you,” Yongguk says with intent, looking in her eyes. Jieun feels a slight shiver in her spine at the gaze, and feels content after Yongguk places his lips on her forehead, mindful of the audience.

“You didn’t have to take it so seriously, Gukie… I still love you just the same, after all these years.”  

After lunch, Daehyun and Kyungsoo are sitting in one of the university quad lawns, chatting and playing games. The others have classes, so Kyungsoo and Daehyun are pretty much the only ones in their group that have no classes after lunch on Wednesdays. Kyungsoo informs Daehyun that he will be using the restroom so he will be right back.

Daehyun stretches his legs on the lawn and leans back on his elbows looking up at the sky, clouds forming into different shapes. He smiles and basks in the warmth of the sun.

Noticing a quick movement in the corner of his eye, Daehyun snaps his head to the right to see a bunny hopping over to munch on some leaves. A white spot on its brown side.

 _It’s the bunny from Monday,_ Daehyun observes. Daehyun watches it moving around and often stopping, eating on some grass. He cannot help but grin at the sight. _It is pretty adorable_ , Daehyun thinks to himself. He catches something else moving in his range of vision and he turns his head to see a person walking up to him.

_It’s the guy from Monday too._

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Jongup is walking around on campus, having gotten out of dance studio early. His dance instructor let the class do whatever they want to do for their dance audition practices, either keep on rehearsing in the studio, go out and practice with an audience, or just go and leave class early. Jongup leaves Jongin and Sehun to their rehearsals as he heads out to eat the rest of his sandwich. He is on his way to sit on a bench when he catches the sight of someone familiar.

Gathering up his courage to talk to the guy, Jongup takes a deep breath and exhales, making his way to the guy. He notices that the guy is staring fixedly at something somewhere left off Jongup’s vision. Jongup looks to the left and finds a bunny. He smiles when he sees that the guy is smiling too. He slows in his tracks, smitten with the angelic face.

“Hi! You’re the guy from the other day that I ran into. It’s a nice bunny, isn’t it?” Jongup calls out to the guy as he makes his way to him. The guy shows no response upon hearing him.

Jongup’s pace falters a bit before he musters up some more confidence. He continues to smile and marches on until he finally gets the guy’s attention. The guy looks up at him and scrambles to stand up.

“Hi, oh no, you don’t have to stand up. I’ll sit down too.” Jongup puts out a hand to stop him from standing up and joins him, sitting down on the lawn. The guy freezes in mid-action of getting up before plunking down on his comfy grassy seat.

“Hi, mynameisMoonJongup, twent- ah I mean, eighteenyearsold. Sorry, I’m 18 years old, Moon Jongup.” Jongup bows his head, slightly blushing from his mistake. When he looks up, he gets a blank stare from the guy.

“Er…I’m Moon Jongup,” Jongup points to himself, poking his chest with his finger gently. “Eighteen years old…um. Lemme think.” Jongup screws his eyes up in concentration as he tries to think of some way to show 18. “Oh! Uh, here! Uhm…” He holds out two hands, all ten fingers out at first and then he closes them again before holding out a full hand and three fingers on the other hand. 10 – 8. He smiles at his success, looking at the guy in front of him. He can see the other guy’s eyes are starting to crinkle in amusement as a smile creeps on his lips.

“What’s your name?” Jongup mumbles a bit, as he points to the guy. The guy looks at him with a slight frown of eyebrows. “Um…Your. Name.”

The guy tilts his head and slowly reaches for his backpack next to him. Jongup can only watch him as the guy opens his backpack to get out a notepad and a pen. The guy starts to scribble something before he hands the notepad and pen to Jongup. Jongup receives them, and looks down at the notepad.

_Jung Daehyun, 20 years old. I am Deaf._

Jongup stares at the word “Deaf” for a few seconds before glancing at the name “Daehyun”. “Oh…you’re deaf, Daehyun-sshi.” Jongup looks up at him from the notepad, looking apologetically. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t think you were deaf. I thought you hadn’t understood what I just said…”

Daehyun holds up his hand and shakes his head, his eyes and mouth smiling. He points to Jongup and then at the notebook, particularly his name. Jongup gets the message and writes his name on the pad, _Moon Jongup._ He holds up the notepad to show Daehyun his name and Daehyun nods. “Moon Shongup,” Daehyun tests his voice carefully and Jongup brightens, nodding. Daehyun looks at him in surprise, pointing at him. “Yu arh Himshan’s brodder? Moon Himshan?”

Jongup blinks at him, confused, but nonetheless, he nods his head.

Daehyun looks at him in awe, his mouth agape. “Moon Shongup, I ‘ear ‘bout yur brodder, ahh here.” He moves over to sit next to Jongup and Jongup is startled at the lack of distance between the two of them. Daehyun looks at Jongup questioningly, gently taking the notepad and pen from him. Jongup shakes out of his reverie and allows him to write whatever he wants to say. Jongup tentatively looks over Daehyun’s arm to see what he is writing.

 _I heard of your brother because he was making a bit of a scene last week during lunch. Hahaha._ (“Ah, right… Yeah, that’s my brother alright.”) _He seems to be quite a smart guy, with a strong traditional music background._ (“He’s amazing!”) _Although, last week Thursday, he had forgotten his notebook and my friend, Yongguk hyung, had it. I asked him to meet my friends and I at the gate, so we could give it to you and give it back to your brother._ (“Oh!”) _Sorry I didn’t get the chance to meet you then. But I do remember seeing you last week Thursday too but you ran off._ (A weak chuckle.) _I was wondering what was up. However, I am glad we got to meet today. From now on, you can call me hyung._

Jongup reads the rest of the entry and when he looks up, he is startled to see Daehyun smiling at him, their faces less than a foot apart. Daehyun’s eyes are twinkling with merriment and Jongup’s mind goes blank. His heart hammering against his chest, he sits up and regains his composure, looking away. He hears Daehyun chuckling and feels Daehyun’s hand ruffling his hair. Jongup cannot help but smile shyly, before he looks back at Daehyun. They are staring at each other, and Jongup swears he hears birds chirping. Their gaze continues to hold until Jongup brings up a question.

“Do you thi- I mean, right.” Jongup shakes his head, reaching for the notepad and writes: _Do you think you could teach me sign language? I wanna learn how to talk with you, hyung._

Realizing how easily he wrote it, Jongup blushes and does nothing with the notepad. He makes to scribble it out but is stopped when Daehyun places his hand on top of his hand. Jongup holds his breath at the contact. Daehyun cocks his head and scrambles over nearer to see what Jongup wrote. He blinks in surprise and looks at the flustered Jongup, who is still not looking back at him. He taps Jongup’s arm gently to get his attention.

Gradually letting go of the breath he has been holding, Jongup turns his head ever so slowly, afraid to look at Daehyun again and his eyes hesitant to meet Daehyun’s eyes. Daehyun shifts his head slightly, chuckling again. He raises Jongup’s chin with his finger, bringing Jongup to look at him. Tentatively, Jongup brings up his eyes to focus on Daehyun. Daehyun holds out a fist, and Jongup reacts quickly to close his eyes, bracing for an impact.

_Waiting…waiting…where’s the punch?_

Jongup cracks an eye open to peek at Daehyun who is looking at him with half-confusion and half-amusement. Opening his eyes, Jongup sees that Daehyun has only raised his hand a little higher to show Jongup a couple flicks of a wrist, [YES]. Jongup looks at the fist and back at Daehyun.

Daehyun grins, “Yes. I will teeshyu.”

“O-oh, okay,” Jongup says dumbly, his mind still reeling on what has just happened. Realizing that his face is still resting on Daehyun’s finger, he brings up his hand to put down Daehyun’s arm. Daehyun gives him a gleaming look, and with the same hand that Jongup puts down, he pats Jongup’s thigh and rests his hand there. Jongup, still embarrassed, moves his attention to look for the bunny. It is gone.

Daehyun is teaching Jongup the alphabets with the aid of the notepad when Kyungsoo shows up. “Oh hello, Jongup-ah! Nice to see you again!” Kyungsoo greets while signing.

“Ah, yes, Kyungsoo-hyung. Nice to see you too!”

“I see Daehyun here is teaching you some alphabets, yeah?”

“Mhm, Daehyun-hyung’s quite a wonderful teacher…” Jongup blushes a bit, eyeing Daehyun with admiration. Kyungsoo notices this and looks at Daehyun. Daehyun signs to him [~(NONE POINT TEASE-ME)~ ns<KYUNGSOO> “AT-LEAST” I KNOW I LIKE *his head subtly tilts towards Jongup*] _(There’s no point in teasing me, Kyungsoo. At least I know I like him.)_ Daehyun sticks his tongue out in a playful manner at Kyungsoo, and Kyungsoo can only roll his eyes, smiling.

“Wh..what did Daehyung, I mean Daehyun-hyung, say?” Jongup eyes the two of them.

“Oh, Daehyun was saying that he likes you,” Daehyun’s face drop when he sees that Kyungsoo tells Jongup that he likes him but Kyungsoo has signed [FALL-IN-LOVE] instead of [LIKE]. Luckily, Jongup has no clue what Kyungsoo has meant on the ‘like’ part, but can only assume he means Daehyun liking Jongup as a friend. That is a start for Jongup to get to know Daehyun better.


	16. Guess Who's Coming for Dinner?

Thursday morning brings a gloomy weather for the city of Seoul, dampening the moods of some citizens. At a college, the students find themselves huddled under roofed areas of the campus. Not many choose to hang outside to enjoy the weather. However, it does not dampen the moods of Kyungsoo, his brother, Baekhyun, nor his brother’s boyfriend, Chanyeol, for that matter.

When classes are over, Daehyun and Kyungsoo go outside and they run into Jongup. Jongup immediately brightens at the sight of his friends and waves, greeting them with an awkward bow, his hand still held up. Daehyun and Kyungsoo grin at Jongup, before Daehyun ruffles Jongup’s hair, earning a shy laughter from him. Daehyun takes the chance to spend some time with Jongup, having been notified by Kyungsoo yesterday that he will be heading home later because he and Baekhyun are invited to Chanyeol’s place.

Kyungsoo watches his friends go, knowing that Daehyun can handle his conversations with Jongup pretty well, with a combination of a notepad, some gestures, and some sign language.

“Kyungsoo-yah! There you are!” Baekhyun surprises Kyungsoo by jumping on him from behind, scaring the wits out of Kyungsoo. Holding onto his laptop bag at his side, Kyungsoo has let out this weird mixture of sounds, like a shuddering gasp and a high-pitched yelp, causing Baekhyun to snort and laugh like a hyena. Kyungsoo glares at him but Baekhyun can only continue to laugh while talking to him. “Hahahahaha, come on Kyungshahahhaha, Chanyeol’s waiting for us. Hahahaha, oh man, that was so hilarious to hear you like ‘grroiiik’-hahahahaha!” He imitates Kyungsoo’s squeaky grunt and collapse into laughter, slapping his thigh.

**_Whack!_ **

Baekhyun shuts up as he winces, rubbing his head. Kyungsoo has slapped him upside the head and shoots him a wide-eyed judging look. He reminds Baekhyun of an owl, a glaring owl.

“Aw, Kyungsoo, come on, I was just playing around, gosh. It’s just that the weather’s been so gloomy today, what’s wrong with a little fun? But I’m even more excited to see what Chanyeol’s house looks like. Are you?” Baekhyun asks and Kyungsoo nods in response. “It must be pretty big, since Chanyeol has four other siblings; remember, Joonmyeon is also his hyung. Or it could be medium-sized, though it might be a bit cramped…”, Baekhyun trails off, lost in thought.

Just then, Kyungsoo sees a familiar figure coming their way, pretending to act casual. Chanyeol gives a shushing gesture to Kyungsoo, as if planning a sneak attack on his boyfriend. Kyungsoo blinks once slowly, getting the message, and pretends to look around.

“Hey!” Chanyeol attacks Baekhyun from behind with a shout, wrapping his arms around Baekhyun’s sides and lifting him up, spinning him around. It startles Baekhyun so bad that he has screamed like a little girl and is now crying because of too many emotions he has felt from the surprise attack. Kyungsoo winces a bit from the high-pitched scream he hears in his hearing aid, and smirks as he sees his brother reacting with such surprise and laughter.

“PUT ME DOWN, AHAHAHA!! No, stop stop. I’m getting dizzy! Stop Chanyeol!!” Baekhyun laughs, squirming in Chanyeol’s arms as he is being spun in alternating directions. When Kyungsoo notices Baekhyun furiously squirming and shouting “CHANYEOL, COME ON”, Chanyeol hears it and lowers his boyfriend down, looking apologetic.

“It’s okay, Yeol. We all got a bit excited here. Were you waiting long, babe?” Baekhyun pats his tall boyfriend’s arm before hooking it with his arm.

“Nah, I just got out of theatre. Shall we go now, visit my house? I can’t wait to show you guys, it’s gonna be fun! Oh, and Jonghyun-hyung knows you guys won’t be joining him for dinner, right? You guys are having dinner with me and my siblings.” Chanyeol looks worried between Kyungsoo and Baekhyun. Baekhyun nods, replying, “Hyung’s gonna join Miyoung-noona and Taeyeon-noona for dinner, so they might have take-out or just go eat out at some restaurant.” Kyungsoo nods in agreement.

Chanyeol and the Park brothers make their way to Chanyeol’s house, passing through a district of stores, little shops, and promenades. Kyungsoo vaguely remembers a text that he read last week Tuesday that it took Joonmyeon and Chanyeol 10 minutes to get to their house. He checks his watch, it has only been 2 minutes past since we left the entrance gates.

Baekhyun starts singing to various songs with Chanyeol rapping along, with broken English on rare occasions. Kyungsoo finds it difficult to keep a straight face, listening to them. He laughs now and then, often looking away from the couple because they are just too hilarious to watch.

The group finally reaches Chanyeol’s residential area, and Kyungsoo checks his watch again, ten minutes have passed and they still have not reached Chanyeol’s house. Kyungsoo stares at his watch and looking up, he looks around. This area has lesser houses than the previous district they had walked through, with each house having more spaces surrounding them. Baekhyun whistles.

“We’re here, guys.”

Kyungsoo and Baekhyun look at Chanyeol, just as he announces their arrival, and back at the area. Baekhyun nudges his boyfriend, “Chanyeollie…this is where you live? You have your own house?”

“Wha, no!” Chanyeol laughs, “I share the mansion with my siblings, of course!” Baekhyun stops as he widens his eyes at him and shares a surprised look with Kyungsoo, who also stops upon hearing Chanyeol’s casual statement. Chanyeol looks back at them.

“W-wait…you…said mansion, right?” asks Baekhyun. Chanyeol nods. The twins stare at each other.

“For the past two years, Chanyeol, I never knew you had a mansion. You kept telling me ‘house’, and I’ve always assumed you had a nice house but not like this.” Baekhyun walks up to Chanyeol and the trio start walking again.

“Yeah, well, I wanted it to be a surprise when the right time came along. When I found out your brother knows my brother from work, I thought the more we keep having these ‘small world’ moments, the more you guys will be involved in my life and I in yours. After all, since you invited me to your place for breakfast that Tuesday morning, the least I can do is invite you guys for dinner, and spend more time with you guys outside of school.”

“Aren’t you sweet?” Baekhyun hugs Chanyeol, giving him a kiss on the lips, and Kyungsoo pretends to gag. Chanyeol chuckles as they pull away.

“And we turn right here,” Chanyeol says as the trio face a metal-fenced gate and the twins gasp loudly, mouths agape. Looking at them with glee, Chanyeol inserts the security code and the gate slides open, no longer obstructing the view of the house. The twins close their mouths and look at each other in awe.

Chanyeol, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun walk up the road that leads up a slope to the Kim Residence further up the hill. The mansion is painted a soft, faded grey, two stories tall, rectangular and almost symmetric. On top of the mansion, the large low-pitched roof slopes towards them, and stops a few feet past the front of the mansion.

The trio arrives at the steps and Chanyeol uses his key to open the door, allowing his guests to enter first. The twins come in, their mouths dropping again, at the sight of the living room. The living room is very wide-spaced, surrounded by several rooms; they can see that one of the rooms is greater in size compared to the other, yet both are nothing like the size of the living room. The first things they notice after looking around the space are the four thick columns supporting the second floor and its platform. Across from them, they face a huge glass wall that stretches the whole length of the floor, giving a wonderful view of the backyard and the Han River. The glass wall also stretches up to the ceiling, without any obstruction, creating a double height living space under a sloped ceiling.

The walls and ceiling are two different tones of white, and the floors are honey-colored wooden planks. Remembering what the house looked like from outside, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun notice that the ceiling also slopes downwards. To their left, they see a piano, also white, resting on a single raised platform, with a wall behind the piano. The kitchen and dining area are located on one end of the living room, with an island in the middle, marking the boundary between each other. Looking straight ahead, they can see a few steps leading down to the central floor of the living room, just below their level, making the room seem taller and wider. On the central floor, there are matching couches with some furniture and a big stand-alone flat television screen facing the trio. To their right, there is a door that leads to a room and, snaking from the ground up to above the door, a staircase leads up to the second floor bridged-platform, from which people can easily look down, on either side, to the people on the first floor’s entry area and living room area.

Chanyeol closes the entrance door and leads the twins further inside to stand between the two thick pillars that support the second floor. “Welcome to my house! Lemme give you a tour. This is the living room, obviously, and our piano over there. The bathroom is over there between the piano and the kitche-“

“YAH, UNNIE! LOVERBOY IS HERE WITH HIS BOYFRIEND AND FRIEND!” A shout comes from the second floor, startling the twins. “C’mere, unnie, come on!!”

The twins look up to see two girls running on the second floor U-shaped walkway that circles the living room. Both girls have fairly tanned skin; one has a wavy hair while the other has long straight hair. Hurried footsteps hover above Chanyeol and the twins and they turn around to see the girls coming down, hand in hand, giggling. They walk over to where Chanyeol and the twins are and introduce themselves. The wavy-haired girl lifts her hands to indicate the twins to look at the straight-haired girl.

“My name is Bora…” The straight-haired girl brings her hands to her chest and then moves her hands to indicate the other sister’s turn, their hands switching positions.

“…And my name is Hyojung!”

“ANNYEONGHASEYO, BBYONG!” The two tanned girls end their greeting with chic poses, and the twins have awkward smiles on their faces.

“Guys, these are my noonas,” Chanyeol looks amused at the twins’ reactions. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun bow to them and introduce themselves as well.

After Kyungsoo introduces himself, he hears a gasp from Hyojung and feels hands lightly pinching his cheeks.

“Omomomomomo, this kid is SO CUTE. Wait, are you 20 too?!” Hyorin coos at Kyungsoo, her eyes twinkling as she lets go of Kyungsoo’s cheeks. Her voice makes a squeaking sound when she says “so cute”. Kyungsoo can tell her eyes are bright and full of giddiness. “Waah, really…You’re so cute, Kyungsoo-yah.” Hyojung wraps her arms around Kyungsoo’s arm and continues to coo. “Aigoo, you can call me and Bora noona, too. Come on, let’s hear you say, ‘noona’.”

Kyungsoo stutters a bit at first, heart racing from Hyojung’s sudden physical contact. With wide eyes, Kyungsoo stares at Hyojung before turning around to look at Bora. Bora is standing in her spot, crossing her arms and looking amused. Chanyeol and Baekhyun look amused as well. Kyungsoo looks back at Hyojung.

“N-n-noo...noona?”

“AIGOO!” Hyojung squeals. “See how his lower lip puckers up and then drops down, whoooaa~” Hyojung drawls thoughtfully as she, while holding onto Kyungsoo’s arm, unhooks one of her hands from his arm to gently tickle the underside of his chin. “It’s so cute!” Bora comes to Hyojung’s side and attempts to pry her sister’s grip off of Kyungsoo. She finally succeeds after several tugs, giggling and apologizing that Hyojung can be super-touchy at times.

Hyojung pouts at Bora before asking the guys, with her hands indicating to the laptop bags hanging on the guys’ sides, “Shall we take your bags though? I mean, it  _ is _ a house, not like some kind of hotel where you have to carry them around.”

“Oh no, it’s okay, we’re good. Thanks though,” Baekhyun smiles.

A sound of throat clearing creeps in behind the trio, and the girls happily waves at someone behind Baekhyun and Kyungsoo’s backs.

“Oppa! Chanyeol brought company!” Bora says. Hyojung pipes in, “Especially one that is a cutie patootie!”

Kyungsoo and Baekhyun turn around to face a man whose face has the kindest charm anyone has ever seen, with his eye smile and his smile that is ever so precious. Yet, his appearance gives off a gentleman charisma, and the Park twins bow to him.

“Ah, you must be Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, correct?” The man points to Kyungsoo, who he thinks is Baekhyun, and to Baekhyun, who he thinks is Kyungsoo. Chanyeol facepalms and whines, “Hyung, my boyfriend is Baekhyun. This” – Chanyeol rests his hands on Baekhyun’s shoulders – “is Baekhyun. The other is Kyungsoo. I’ve told you before, hyung. Why are you so forgetful?”

Chanyeol’s brother blinks at him, surprised at his error. He suddenly smiles and says, “My apologies. Welcome to the Kim Residence. I am Jinki, the oldest of the five siblings. I see you have met Bora and Hyojung, and I’m sure you have met Joonmyeon at school quite often, as Chanyeol has told me. Delighted to have you two in my house.”

“Hyung, why are you being like this? You’re so awkward with this fancy, proper greeting. It’s just Chanyeol’s boyfriend and his brother, not the queen of England or president of South Korea,” Joonmyeon voices from above, leaning against the railing on the second floor outside his room.

“Ah, er…okay so uh, Chanyeol, why don’t you lead our guests around and give them a tour? I’ll go ahead and make some breakfa- I mean dinner,” chortles Jinki. “Please, Baekhyun-ah and Kyungsoo-yah, make yourself at home.”

Bora asks Jinki if any assistance is needed in the kitchen, “Oppa, do you need some help with your cook-“

Hyojung interrupts with a sigh, huddling with Bora. “Yah, unnie, let’s just go and help him. Who knows what he’ll do to the kitchen stove. Remember what happened to the lasagna last time?” Hyojung looks pointedly at Bora as they walk to the kitchen. Bora nods at the memory, but Hyojung answers anyway, “We had  _ fried chicken  _ instead. That was our  _ third _ week to have them. And too much fried chicken is never a good thing.”

The girls make their way to the kitchen when Baekhyun and Kyungsoo pick up Chanyeol’s continuation of the tour.

Looking at the sisters’ retreating backs into the kitchen, Chanyeol clears his throat to get Baekhyun’s and Kyungsoo’s attentions, “And so yeah, there’s the bathroom. The kitchen is there and you can see the island there, separating the dining area and kitchen area. That room behind me is Jinki-hyung’s bedroom; the door under the stairs leads to his room. Up above is Joonmyeon-hyung’s” – Joonmyeon looks down and waves at Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, holding eye contact with Kyungsoo a little longer – “room and right up there above you, is my room.” Chanyeol brings his voice to a whisper, and the twins stand closer to hear him.

“You know why Jinki-hyung’s bedroom is here?” The twins shake their heads. “Because he’s so dead clumsy sometimes,” and they see a glint in Chanyeol’s eyes as he laughs. “We can’t risk him taking the stairs because he tripped on it one too many times. Believe me, we’ve seen him injure himself tripping over nothing. The best he can handle are the steps down here.” He points to the steps located nearby, in the center of the living room where the couch, several ottomans, and television set are set up.

“Let’s head upstairs, shall we?” Chanyeol offers his arm, and Baekhyun stares at him before chuckling. He gets a little slap to the chest and a comment, “You’re so cheesy” from Baekhyun. Kyungsoo is looking around the house with wide eyes, in awe of the size of the mansion. “Wait, Chanyeol, where do your parents live, or sleep?”

“Ah, our parents live next door. Hahaha,” Chanyeol chuckles when he sees Baekhyun and Kyungsoo’s reactions, mouths agape and too stunned to say anything. “They have their house, too. This was a present to my brother for his achievements both in his academic and business lives, despite his proneness to injury. The rest of my siblings and I followed him with succeeding very well in school and so we all chose to live with him. Our parents didn’t mind, because it meant that they could enjoy the privacy and frequent company. You see, they’re quite the party kind of people, the ones that throw a gala or whatever. They have rooms there to serve as guests’ bedrooms.”

“Wow,” is all that Baekhyun and Kyungsoo breathe out. Chanyeol continues to smile and chuckles, beckoning them to follow him upstairs. “And now I shall present you the second floor. Come on.”

The twins and Chanyeol go up the stairs, and from the second floor landing, they can see the entry door and the living room. Joonmyeon comes by and waves hello to them, and joins them on the tour. Kyungsoo notices that the railing cuts off the path a little past Joonmyeon’s bedroom door, but it does not quite reach the glass wall.

“Come on closer to the railings, it’s totally safe. These railings are chrome, and they are quite sturdy.” Chanyeol leads Baekhyun and Kyungsoo to the railings. They look down to see the living room, the backyard outside, and the Han River.

“Wow, I bet it gets really beautiful during sunsets and sunrises,” Baekhyun comments.

“Yep, it does, babe. Every night, when we’re around in the house, we always get to watch the sunsets. It’s not everyday that we can get the sunrise though, but if we do, we look at it from that window over there” – Chanyeol points post the twins’ direction behind them, and the twins turn around to see a huge window placed above the entry door – “we just tend to keep it to ourselves anyway and savor the view. We’ll watch the sunset together later in the evening after dinner,” Chanyeol wraps his arms around Baekhyun’s middle, resting his chin on Baekhyun’s head. Kyungsoo smiles at the couple and sees to the other end of the second floor, he sees that the railing cuts off the path a little past Bora and Hyojung’s bedroom door and, like Joonmyeon’s railing, does not reach the glass wall.

“You like what you see, Kyungsoo-yah?” Kyungsoo is startled when he hears the voice and, at the same time, he feels a shoulder brushing his arm. He looks around to see Joonmyeon leaning against the railings with his elbows resting on top of the handrail, looking at him sincerely. Kyungsoo blushes before looking away, anywhere except Joonmyeon, and he nods with a small voice, “Mhmm~ I’m really impressed with this house…I have never seen one like it before.”

“This right here is my bedroom,” Chanyeol points to his door, somehow oddly placed on the shorter wall, like Jinki’s bedroom, instead of the longer wall like the other bedrooms do. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun crane their necks to see the door. It has a big flame symbol engraved on it as well, and what seems to be a bird with flaming wings placed in the center of the fire symbol. “This used to be a study for the previous owner but when we moved in, I had it renovated, but I still like the oddity of the door placement. It’s quite unique, yeah? I got that fire design from that one cartoon tv show about a kid who could bend four elements, I forgot the name of the show, it’s been a long time ago. It was really awesome though. He had friends who could only one of the four elements, but he could do all four. Pretty cool, yeah? And then at the belly of the flames is a phoenix, something I came up with. ‘Cause you know, phoenixes are birds of fire and they are often reborn from ashes. I kind of like the idea of a phoenix born of fire and created from fire.” Baekhyun and Kyungsoo eye the door with surprised looks on their faces, nodding in agreement.

“The bathroom is in between my bedroom and noonas’ bedroom, which is over there,” Chanyeol points to the only door on the other end of the second floor.

“But where does Joonmyeon shower?” Baekhyun asks.

“Oh, he lets me go through his room to shower in there or I can use the one downstairs, it doesn’t matter which one,” Joonmyeon replies.

Chanyeol nods, “I let him through my bedroom to take a shower if Jinki-hyung is using it. But really, I’m kind of jealous of our noonas. Their bedroom is a master’s bedroom since they have so much space. Even though they’re not twins, what with Bora-noona being the older by one year to Hyojung-noona, they share everything together.”

**_“Sarangdo palgo saneun, sok-i-go sonneun sesang, oroji midgo uijihan~”_ **

“Oh no…not again…” Chanyeol mutters to himself as he facepalms. Joonmyeon chuckles.

**_“Dangshinmanjeodo nareul beorishin Seoul-i~”_ **

“Wait what, was that Bora-noona?” Chanyeol removes his hand from his face, confused at the change of voice.

**_“MIWEO MIWEOJYEOSSEOYO~~OHH~~”_ **

“Anndd of course, it was Hyojung-noona again,” Chanyeol says dejectedly, hanging his head.

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo stare at each other before Kyungsoo signs to Baekhyun, [THAT SONG ^(NAME <SEOUL WOMAN> FROM fs<KIM SOOHEE>)^]  _ (Was that “Seoul Woman” by Kim Soohee?) _ . Baekhyun nods, wondering why Hyojung and Bora are singing an old classic song.

The Kim brothers watch Kyungsoo and Baekhyun have their small conversation, and Chanyeol pipes in, “I think I know what Kyungsoo was asking. Did you too, hyung?” He shoots the question to Joonmyeon, cocking his head side to side in a weird manner, as if he is unsure of what he could understand. “You were asking if that was “Seoul Woman” by Kim Soohee, yes? ‘Cause it was.” Chanyeol asks Kyungsoo, smiling.

Not surprised that Chanyeol has understood the alphabet already, Kyungsoo beams and nods, “Yeah, I was asking Baekhyun about that. Why is – or are, since Bora-noona was joining in – Hyojung-noona and Bora-noona singing such a classic song? Are they artists?”

“Yeah, free-lance artists; they’re singing, rapping, and dance instructors, more like. They like to call themselves SISTAR19. They teach at a nearby dance studio.”

Baekhyun nods, “That sounds like Jonghyun-hyung with the ‘free-lance artist’ thing going on. Does Hyojung belt out often? You make it sound like she’s either done this song too many times or she’s constantly singing wherever she goes…”

Chanyeol groans while nodding, and Joonmyeon does not hesitate to snicker. “My brother does that too, writing his own compositions and then singing and belting out whenever he can. It’s quite annoying, really.” Baekhyun shakes his head at the memory of what had happened last week Tuesday.

**_“Saranghandani mal geuri eo-reomni, hanmadi mal-imyeon dweneun geol~”_ **

“Oh god, let’s go inside my room, it’s less noisy in there,” just as Hyojung is about to sing, Chanyeol takes Baekhyun’s hand and wraps his arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders, leading them to his room. Joonmyeon laughs as he follows along.

As Chanyeol shuts the door after the group enters his room, they hear the singing, but it is muffled and reduced to a quieter volume. Baekhyun and Kyungsoo look around Chanyeol’s room. Near the entry door, the twins notice a desk and Chanyeol’s bed near them. The bed is flushed against the corner of the room, with the window at its foot. There is another door between a bookshelf and a closet, and Kyungsoo assumes it to be the door that leads to the bathroom. The bookshelf is opposite the bed, and the closet faces the door. There is another bookshelf between the twins and the bathroom door. Chanyeol mutters, “Phew, it sounds be-

**_“NAL JOM BA~RA~BWA~~AHH”_ **

“NOOOO!!” Chanyeol moans, turning around as he covers his face with his hands. Baekhyun and Kyungsoo look at him with pity.

**_“OH MAH BOYYYY~ MAH BOYYY~~~”_ **

Joonmyeon replies for Chanyeol, “Yeah, Hyojung-noona and Bora-noona have been practicing for a stage performance that’s coming up soon at our hyung’s workplace. That song you just heard is a composition of their own, My Boy. You guys should come, too.”

Chanyeol drops his hands suddenly with a gasp, looking at Joonmyeon. “Oh yeah, I remembered that Jonghyun-hyung works at the same place as Jinki-hyung! Fantastic, you guys can come to our hyung’s café and we can hang out with everyone there!!”

**_“AH OPPA! WHAT DID YOU JUST PUT IN THERE?!”_ **

**_CRASH…_ **

Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Kyungsoo and Joonmyeon look at each other in alarm. Joonmyeon quickly opens Chanyeol’s door and they hear two loud gasps.

“Is everything alright down there?” Joonmyeon leaves the room and the trio hears him going down the stairs hurriedly. They decide to follow him down.

When the trio arrives to the kitchen, they see Joonmyeon standing in the way, Hyojung nervously biting her nail and leaning on the island counter, and Jinki and Bora cleaning up the mess on the floor, with the glass bowl somehow miraculously surviving the crash with an intact form. The said mess consists of many marinated pork belly strips with slices of carrots and zucchini, and there is an odor of red chili pepper paste with soy sauce.

Kyungsoo wrinkles his nose in slight disgust, wondering what made the smell so extreme. Chanyeol asks the group, “Guys, what happened?”

Hyojung looks at Chanyeol with wide eyes, stopping mid-action of biting her nails, and appears to feel a bit giddy. “Oppa mixed up an ingredient…hehehe…He accidently tossed in some salt when it was supposed to be sugar…and he thought some water would cut down on the saltiness. Bora saw what he was doing, and tried to stop him because he had been so distracted with our singing, hehehe. He was gonna cook you guys some Je-yook Bokk-eum for dinner…”

“Sorry, guys…It’s my fault. Guess we’ll just have to order take-out…Who wants fried chi-“

“NO, OPPA.”

“NO, HYUNG.”

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo and Jinki are surprised at the unison of Chanyeol, Joonmyeon, Hyojung and Bora hastily refusing the offer. Bora has her index finger out, pointing at Jinki, as if to scold him.

“We will get Tangpyeonchae and Den Jang Jiggae, with Ojing-eo Gui. Not. Fried. Chicken. Again. Oppa.” Bora says.

Joonmyeon picks up the phone that is resting on its dock on the island counter and calls a food place to place the orders for Mung Bean Jelly Noodles with Vegetables, Miso Soup, and Grilled Squid.

In thirty minutes, the food arrives and everyone is enjoying dinner and chatting. Save for Kyungsoo and Baekhyun, everyone else is relieved that it is not fried chicken for the fourth week.

“Hyung,” Chanyeol speaks up to Jinki after some chatter has died down, “I forgot to mention that I met Baekhyun and Kyungsoo’s brother, Jonghyun-hyung last week. Apparently, he works at your place, hyung, and I was thinking maybe we could invite Baekhyun and Kyungsoo to your café. Have fun with the crowd, listen to our friends and other people singing, as well as our noonas…” – Chanyeol glances at Hyojung and Bora with a smile, who are looking at him expectantly – “performing and, you know, see what it looks like?”

“Sounds like a good plan! Baekhyun-ah, Kyungsoo-ah, you guys are more than welcome to come over to my café, ChaKeo Corner, and invite your friends! I’m the manager of the place though we have two groups of people working together. We have some spaces available for those who are interested in singing. Nothing formal to dress up, unless you want to. We have some guests performing mellow rock, like uhm…who was it? Ah, Yonghwa, Jonghyun, Minhyuk and Jungshin, I forget their band name, they are not regulars but they come by now and then, it was something Blue…or was it SceneBlue? Seenblue? I don’t know…and then ballads, some slow pop songs, nice café genres. Oh yeah, you guys should come by around Friday next week. We have this duo, these two guys performing that day…I forget their names but they are a Kim and a Nam, they’re sort of regulars…or maybe seldomers, haha. I call them something about a tree, though. AH! Tree! Namu…or Nam woo…I don’t know that guy’s name. Oh yeah, I call them a plant couple.”

Jinki smiles and looks around expectantly, hoping that everyone gets the joke. Chanyeol and Joonmyeon stare at their hyung with disbelief. Hyojung snorts and cackles out loud, as Bora tries not to laugh, putting on a serious face. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun look at each other and shrugs, confused.

Joonmyeon blinks, “Hyung…” Jinki looks at him, who appears to be shaking his head with a deadpanned look. “That was corny.”

\- - -

**_A gloomy sky gives the college and the district a dim, sad look…_ **

**_The sun is hidden behind the clouds…_ **

Earlier that day, some time after Kyungsoo, Baekhyun and Chanyeol have left, Zitao and Jongdae are walking to the entrance gates with their backpacks on. Zitao hears a shout from behind and he turns around.

Zitao sees Yixing accompanied by Dongwoo and Sunwoo, making their way towards him and Jongdae. Zitao gently tugs on Jongdae’s arm, and writes on Jongdae’s palm that Yixing is coming along with Dongwoo and Sunwoo. Jongdae lights up a little bit and lets go of Zitao’s arm in an instant, patting his arm in assurance.

“Zitao-yah, I’ll be taking Zhongda home. I’m free from dance practice tonight. Thanks for escorting him around, I really appreciate it,” Yixing smiles and with his hand, he takes Jongdae’s hand and hooks Jongdae’s arm with his arm. Jongdae has a small smile on his face and waves. Yixing then bids the trio goodbye. “Good night, everyone. Dongwoo and Sunwoo, I hope we meet again.”

“Definitely, it was nice to meet you, Yixing.” Dongwoo smiles as Sunwoo shakes hands with Yixing. Waving goodbye to Yixing and Jongdae, Zitao watches as his friends walk down the street to Jongdae’s place.

“Zitao-yah, shall we head on home? Sunwoo lives in the apartment building next to ours, so he’ll be joining us.” Zitao turns around at the sound of Dongwoo’s voice and nods, joining Dongwoo and Sunwoo to walk to their homes.

On the way home, not paying attention to Dongwoo and Sunwoo’s conversation about manhwas, Zitao recalls taking the path with Dongwoo to their apartments once and remembers how he ran into someone so familiar but unable to remember the person’s name. To his surprise, when he clears his mind to focus on the present, he spots the familiar figure again, walking past store windows and checking out the latest hot items. It is the same lanky guy with smooth, neck-length hair, now swept back to expose his face in full view. Zitao finally sees the guy’s face as the guy is not wearing sunglasses and, unlike last week, he admits that the guy looks pretty charming. The guy is also wearing skinny jeans and a yellow hoodie jacket.

Zitao does not realize he has been staring until the guy turns around and happens to look at him, and Zitao looks away to focus on Dongwoo and Sunwoo. He jumps back a bit, startled by Dongwoo and Sunwoo looking back at him with curious expressions on their faces.

“You were lost in thought for a while, Zitao.” Dongwoo smiles gently and lifts his hand to pat Zitao’s back. “You didn’t answer my question: Do you think there’s something going on with Jongdae and Yixing? I mean, no offense, I’ve only met the guy today but something tells me there’s something go–“

“Zitao-sshi? Huang Zitao-sshi?” A voice interrupts Dongwoo’s rambling and Zitao gives a furtive glance at the approaching visitor before looking away. His action causes the visitor to press on. Dongwoo and Sunwoo are watching Zitao and the stranger even more curiously.

“Do you remember me, Zitao-hyung? From many years back?”

Zitao holds up his hands and waving them, shaking his head.

“It’s me, Zitao-hyung! Lee Sungjong! Remember, my INFINITE hyungs? ‘Aw man, I knew I should’ve taken Chinese 101’ that year??”

Shaking his head, Zitao slows to a stop and stares at Sungjong. Zitao’s eyes widen in recognition as the memories come back to him in a flash. He blinks a few times before he connects the Sungjong he sees now to the Sungjong he remembers back then. Zitao then grins and goes to hug him, taking Sungjong by surprise.

Sungjong quickly snaps out of his shocked state and returns the hug, patting Zitao’s back. After they almost pull away, Sungjong places his hands on Zitao’s shoulders, studying his face. “Oh wow, hyung, you’ve looked a lot better than the last time I saw you! You seem fit! Have you been doing martial arts or something?” Zitao nods. Sungjong is in awe, but something catches his attention and he looks to his left. He sees two guys huddling, shrugging to each other, and looking a bit confused.

“Oh, are they your friends?” Sungjong inquires as he and Zitao pull apart from the hug. Zitao looks around and nods. “Hello, my name is Lee Sungjong. I’m 20 years old.” Sungjong bows to them and Dongwoo and Sunwoo smile. They also introduce themselves and there is an air of friendliness and happiness among the quartet, despite the cloudy weather, as Sungjong mentions that he and a group of his hyungs knew Zitao from years back in middle school. He adds in, “Funny that your name is Dongwoo, since I have a hyung named Dongwoo. I call him Dino-hyung or Kenya-hyung…unless you have a nickname?”

Dongwoo replies, “You can also call me CNU-hyung, if you like. As in Shinwoo, not Shin-you.”

Zitao looks around to find a café shoppe and signals to the group if they want to eat a light snack before dinner. At first, Dongwoo and Sunwoo politely decline, and Zitao raises his eyebrow in concern. He shakes his head, as if saying,  _ you don’t want to join me for a snack? _ Dongwoo and Sunwoo nod. Dongwoo explains that they have some homework to do, but he thanks Zitao for the offer.

“Yeah, thanks Zitao, for the offer but I think you should go with Sungjong, though. You two have a lot to catch up, seeing that bit of a reunion earlier,” Sunwoo suggests with a smile. “Anyway, we’ll be going now. Have a good day, you guys. Sungjong-sshi, it was nice to meet you.”

“Bye! It was nice meeting you guys.” Sungjong waves along with Zitao as they watch Dongwoo and Sunwoo leave to their places.

Sungjong turns to face Zitao and Zitao points to the café shoppe he was thinking about earlier. Sungjong looks to where Zitao is pointing and nods. “Let’s go in, shall we? We have a lot to catch up.”

Zitao and Sungjong go to the cashier for Sungjong to place their orders. Zitao has ordered green tea with a croissant, while Sungjong orders a cappuccino with two blueberry muffins. After they have paid, they carry their food to their table and sit down, waiting for their names to be called, as Zitao stows his backpack under the table, retrieving his notepad and pencil. He places them next to his plate of croissant on the table.

Sungjong and Zitao stare at each other in silence, waiting for the other to start doing something. They start to feel a little awkward, but then Sungjong bursts out laughing, and Zitao crinkles his eyes in amusement.

“Wow, that was really awkward just now,” Sungjong brings the back of his hand to cover his giggling mouth. Zitao nods, smiling.

“LEE SUNGJONG-SSHI AND… uh…HOO-AHNG? Uh.. JITOW-SSHI. SORRY IF I MISPRONOUNCED YOUR NAME, SIR!...wherever you are…”

Zitao’s face is a mixture of confusion and amusement on his face when he hears his name being called. Sungjong’s face is a mixture of shock and amusement, mouth slightly agape, as he turns his head to Zitao after he hears Zitao’s name mispronounced.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get them, hyung.” Sungjong stands up immediately when he sees Zitao about to get up. Zitao accepts Sungjong’s initiative and takes a bite of his croissant, waiting for him to bring back the drinks. Once Sungjong brings them, he places Zitao’s warm green tea and his cappuccino on the table, and seats himself down.

Zitao takes his notepad and pencil and flips open the notepad to write something. Sungjong watches him write as he takes a sip of his cappuccino. When Zitao finishes, he rotates the notepad to Sungjong, who leans a little forward to read the message:

_ How have you been, old friend? It has been a long time, and I have not heard from you guys after we graduated. Have you been in touch with them? _

“I have been doing very well, thank you for asking,” Sungjong responds as he pulls apart the muffin’s stem from its cap and pops the stem in his mouth. He chews and swallows it before continuing on, “I have been in touch with them lately; we just couldn’t keep in touch during high school since we all went to different ones. Now that we’re all in college – or at least, most of us are, since Gyu-hyung and Dino-hyung already graduated – we’ve been living together.

“I’m majoring in fashion design; I think, by far, this is my worst outfit to wear on a gloomy day today, but then, I guess my yellow hoodie brings much needed sunshine in people’s lives, hahaha. Uhm…Yeah, I have been in touch with the hyungs. I’m currently living in an apartment with Sunggyu-hyung, Woohyun-hyung and Dongwoo-hyung. Howon-hyung, Myungsoo-hyung and Sungyeol-hyung are in the apartment next to ours. They’re all doing well, majoring in…”

Zitao takes several sips of his tea and several bites of his croissant, as he listens to Sungjong narrate about his hyungs and their lives, while taking bites of his muffins. Often, Sungjong would ask him with the same questions Zitao asked him, and Zitao would write down what has been happening. He does not include the incident with Yifan because he feels that maybe what Yifan did at that moment was just a natural gesture of appreciation. Sungjong continues to blow gently on his cappuccino and take some sips of his drink, as he reads a few pages, often commenting out loud on some events that Zitao writes, especially the Math Exam.

The two guys take turns, having already eaten their pastries and being left with their half empty drinks, Sungjong talking and Zitao writing, keeping each other up to date. Zitao is surprised at some point during Sungjong’s talk that most of the guys are attending colleges nearby. He did not think some of the guys would be doing that; he felt that some of them could have aimed for higher colleges outside of Seoul or maybe even overseas.

“Oh! Zitao-hyung, you know, you should check out ChaKeo Corner! It’s a café run by one big group, like a collaboration of two groups of people. Sunggyu-hyung and Woohyun-hyung often performs there when they can. It’s another way for them to earn money, like somewhat of a part-time job or a gig, if you will. The Chakeo Corner is written like this…”

Sungjong writes ‘Cha-Keo Corner’ in vertical orientation, but there are some distortions to the ‘ㅊ’ and ‘ㅋ’ as there are two cups, and the ‘ㅏ’ and ‘ㅓ’ are small, imitating handles of the cups.

Zitao stares at the name, confused. Sungjong explains that the first time he heard the name from Sunggyu, he was also confused until Woohyun explained the meaning behind it, as told from the manager of the place.

“Woohyun said that the Cha is not the ‘car’ in Korean, but ‘Tea’.” Zitao makes an ‘oh’ expression in understanding and recognizing the Korean play on a Chinese word. “Not really Korean by origin, the ‘Keo’ is short for ‘Keo-pi’, from the English word, ‘Coffee’. They both imitate cups of tea and coffee. The manager also wrote ‘Corner’ in English, so it makes pretty much an international logo.” Sungjong shakes his head, “That manager was pretty darn creative, wouldn’t you think so?” Zitao nods contemplatively.

After some more talking and writing, the two guys finish their drinks, and after Zitao grabs his notepad and laptop bag, they leave the café. Once outside, Sungjong invites Zitao to come with him to visit their apartments, and if it gets late, Sunggyu-hyung or Dongwoo-hyung can offer Zitao a ride home. Zitao nods, accepting the offer. The two guys then make their way to Sungjong’s apartment building.

\- - -

“Oh gosh, look at the time, it’s almost sunset!!” Hyojung has finished washing the dishes and Chanyeol has put away the trash in the giant trash bin just outside the kitchen, outside of the house. “Come on, let’s all watch it together!” She runs into the living room and hops onto the couch, Bora following after her. Jinki and Joonmyeon lazily walk into the room, but still in good spirits. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun follow with Chanyeol and seat themselves on several ottomans to face the giant glass wall.

**_There are sounds of murmured chatter from Hyojung, Bora and Jinki. Baekhyun and Chanyeol are muttering to themselves about the view of downtown. Kyungsoo finds himself sitting next to Joonmyeon. A blush rises on his face as he sees Joonmyeon smiling, with Joonmyeon’s knee brushes against his leg._ **

Joonmyeon extends a hand to Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo blinks as he stares at Joonmyeon’s hand, feeling a bit stupid at the moment. He looks up at Joonmyeon, not sure how to respond to the gesture.

“Come with me?”

Kyungsoo slowly looks down to the hand offered, and he hesitantly raises his hand to clasp with Joonmyeon’s hand before nodding. Joonmyeon and Kyungsoo stand up and Joonmyeon pulls Kyungsoo to the staircase, going up to the second floor. As they go up the stairs, they hear the sound of Hyojung’s voice shouting.

“OOH LOOK LOOK! LOOK!”

Hyojung’s excited shout grabs everyone’s attention and they turn to look straight ahead, as Joonmyeon and Kyungsoo reach to a stop in front of Chanyeol’s bedroom wall. They see the sun bleeding the sky orange-red and emitting a beautiful, warm hue.

Kyungsoo hears an audible yet soft gasp from Baekhyun and he looks down to see his brother and boyfriend cuddling together. He hears a low voice from Chanyeol saying, “It’s quite breath-taking, isn’t it?” and he sees Baekhyun nod.

“What about you, what do you think of this view from up here, Kyungsoo-yah?” Joonmyeon’s voice startles Kyungsoo, who replies, “I-I think it is quite a l-lovely view; you can see more of the downtown and the mountain with Namsan Tower over there.” Kyungsoo points to the faintly visible tower in the far distance. “The sky’s of a quite nice, appeasing color to look at. I...I-It gives me a feeling of warmth a-and comfort.”

Kyungsoo feels a bit nervous to open up to Joonmyeon, who has been watching him attentively. He hates feeling the pressure of being put on the spot to talk, but he deals with it, for Joonmyeon’s sake. Kyungsoo adds in a smile to assure Joonmyeon that he is speaking the truth. He admits to himself that he would be lying if he did not love watching the sunset from the second floor.

\- - -

The sun has started to lower down in the sky, marking the time to be in the late afternoon. Zitao and Sungjong arrive at a building twenty minutes after they left the café. They take the elevator as Sungjong explains that they live in the seventh floor of the apartments, occupying apartments 706 and 708.

Sungjong takes Zitao to apartment 706 and knocks on the door, to see if anyone inside will open the door. After waiting a few moments, Sungjong takes out his key to open it and enters, with Zitao following him. Sungjong takes off his shoes and steps onto the floor of the apartment.

“HYUNGS, YOU’LL NEVER KNOW WHO I JUST MET THIS AFTERNOON.”

There is a sound of scrambling noises, a high-pitched gasp, and a voice saying “ACK, DAMN IT, HYUNG~ I WAS SO CLOSE. Why did you pull it out just nooww? We were just getting started! You’re not getting any tonight. Not. Getting. Any. You hear?!”

Sungjong widens his eyes and Zitao does too. They turn to each other and stare in disbelief at what they just heard.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry you had to hear that, Zitao-hyung. HYUNGS, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU HAVE A MAKNAE ON BOARD AND THIS IS WHAT MAKNAE HEARS AFTER GETTING BACK FROM SCHOOL? HORNY DOGS.” Sungjong yells.

“YAH.” A deep voice rumbles throughout the apartment. Sungjong shuts up, but still puts on a bold face. Sunggyu bursts open the door, his hair looking a bit disheveled, but his clothes are still on him, as if he has never taken them off. “WATCH YOUR MOU-…” He stares at Sungjong and Zitao in shock.

“Gyu-hyung, just leave him be. I was kidding about you not getting any tonig-“ Woohyun is heard comforting him and he wraps his arms lightly around Sunggyu’s waist. He appears to be bare-chested, with only jeans on. He suddenly gasps with a squeak and covers his chest.

Sungjong rolls his eyes and sighs, “You two were about to have sex just now, weren’t you?”

Sunggyu squints at Sungjong, and Zitao chuckles to himself, recalling how nonexistent Sunggyu’s eyes get, whether awake, mad, or sad. “What.”

Woohyun exclaims, “Sungjong-ah! NO. We were not having se…oh my god, did you guys hear what I had said earlier?” Sungjong makes an expression of ‘no duh, we heard you earlier.’

Sunggyu’s eyes start to widen in disbelief and then crinkle in amusement. “HAHAHAHA SUNGJONG-AH. YAH! HAHAHAHAHA!” He points at Sungjong and wipes the tear off his eye.

Sungjong looks bewildered and wheels around to look at Zitao, shrugging and holding an expression of confusion.

Woohyun disappears behind the door for a few seconds and comes back, now in a sleeveless shirt and holding a game console. “We were playing a car racing game, without Dongwoo’s permission. He’s gone out for the day with Myungsoo and Sungyeol. Howon’s with Ingook-hyung. It was just the two of us here, so we were bored and wanted to play video games. We thought it was Dongwoo so Gyu-hyung had to pull it out.”

Sungjong puts on a dramatically exasperated face at the clear-up.

“But anyway, who’s your friend? I’m so sorry for being so rude, we didn’t mean to ignore you,” Woohyun walks up to Zitao and extends his hand. “I’m Woohyun, by the way. This here is Sunggyu-hyung.” Woohyun points at Sunggyu behind him with his thumb. Zitao gives him an apprehensive look before smiling and shakes his hand, nodding slowly.

Sungjong stares at Woohyun as he tries to figure out whether Woohyun is joking or not. “Hyung, do you not recognize him? Sunggyu-hyung?” He looks at Sunggyu.

Sunggyu stands at the same spot, studying the friend of Sungjong. He does a double take and cranes his neck forward, as if he caught something interesting. He moves forward, raising his pointed hand at the person in front of him. Woohyun nervously looks at Sunggyu and back at the friend.

“Zitao-yah?” Woohyun spins to look at Sunggyu in shock, hearing Sunggyu uttering the name. He looks back at said Zitao, and asks him. “Huang Zitao? The kid from middle school?!”

Zitao nods with a smile, and finds himself enveloped in a surprise hug between Sunggyu and Woohyun. Sungjong watches them amusedly, shaking his head.

“Took you guys long enough to recognize Zitao-hyung.”

“Yah, middle school was a long time ago, let me remind you that. A lot has changed since then,” Sunggyu says crossly at Sungjong. “Yah, Zitao, how have you been?”

Zitao, again, nods with a smile and a ‘thumb up’ gesture. Sungjong fills in that they just met today in passing and they had a ‘snack date’ at a nearby café. Woohyun goes up to Zitao to take Zitao’s laptop bag off, “Come on in further, you don’t have to keep standing there. I’ll take your bag and put it in the closet. You’re staying here for dinner, that’s a must. Tell your family you’ll be home late, Sunggyu-hyung or Dongwoo-hyung will take you back.” Zitao allows Woohyun to take his laptop bag and he takes off his shoes before walking in. “Oh, what’s the time? Yah, Sungjong-ah, call your hyungs and make them come to our place. We’ve got a mini-celebration to do, for it’s a reunion with our old friend.” Woohyun goes to the closet near the entry door to put the laptop bag in one of the compartments.

As Woohyun cooks away in the kitchen with Sunggyu often helping him, Sungjong goes to make calls. After Zitao texts to Qian that he will be staying for dinner at an old friend’s house, Zitao closes his phone and puts away in his pocket. He watches his friends in merriment, as they are looking very and truly excited to have him here. Zitao looks at what Woohyun is cooking, and he sees that there are slices of tofu, chicken, and beef set aside. In the wok, Woohyun is stirring up vegetables and Zitao can smell the fragrant aroma of vegetables, soy sauce, garlic and onions.

“Zitao-yah,” Woohyun asks, snapping Zitao out of dazed state. “I wasn’t sure what you like, tofu, chicken or beef, so I’m cooking them separately so everyone can have a choice of what to eat. Do you eat meat, Zitao?” Woohyun looks at Zitao as he cooks.

Zitao shakes his head, remembering that he left his notepad in his bag. He glances at Sungjong who is heading to his room, talking on the phone about his reunion with Zitao, and how Sunggyu wants the hyungs to come over. Sighing, Zitao points to the chicken and beef, and crosses his arms in a form of X, shaking his head.

“Oh, so you don’t eat those,” Woohyun comments, his eyes still off the wok but his hand is constantly stirring the vegetables. Zitao points to the tofu and, like before, nods with a smile his ‘thumb up’ gesture.

“Oh, are you a vegetarian then?”

Zitao shakes his head, unsure of how to explain that he is a pesco-lacto vegetarian. Sunggyu comes back after he went to the bedroom to get something. Zitao waves at him to get his attention, too. He starts to do charades, holding up three fingers.

“Ooh, charades! Okay, three words. Go.” Sunggyu exclaims.

For ‘pesco’, Zitao brings his hands together and makes a wavy motion. Woohyun glances at his wok and after turning off the stove, he looks back at Zitao. “Oh, uhm…fish?” Woohyun answers, confused. Zitao nods, and Woohyun goes, “Oh okay, so fish is the first word. He doesn’t eat meat, by the way, hyung… He can eat tofu though.”

As Zitao thinks of how to act ‘lacto’, Woohyun carries his wok to place the vegetables on a nice big plate. He puts the wok in the sink and places the plate on the dining table. He goes back to the kitchen and takes out a cast-iron grill. Once he places it on the stove, he turns on the stove again before he looks back at Zitao.

Zitao imitates pulling on the cow’s udder, and that leaves Woohyun and Sunggyu confused. “Wow, uh…” Woohyun notes. Zitao imitates drinking something and then flexing his arm. “OH! Milk?” Zitao nods, beckoning Woohyun and Sunggyu to say more than just milk.

“Ice cream? Yogurt? Cheese?” Woohyun continues.

“Dairy products?” Sunggyu suggests, and he earns a point and nod from Zitao. Zitao holds up his index finger, and with his other hand, imitates a fish. Then he holds up another finger and, with his other hand, imitates drinking and pointing at Sunggyu. Another finger and Zitao points to the tofu.

Sungyu and Woohyun mutter to themselves, with Sunggyu repeating, “Fish, Dairy products, Tofu.” Woohyun remarks, “You must be a vegetarian, so fish, dairy products, tofu…vegans don’t eat meat nor dairy products…nor even fish. What is that name for a vegetarian then?...”

“Oh, it’s pesco-lacto vegetarian. Zitao was telling me about it earlier today.” Sungjong says simply, walking into the kitchen. He has just gotten off the phone. “Ohhhhh,” is all that Sunggyu and Woohyun say.

“No problem, Zitao-yah, I’ll just grill the meat first and then I’ll clean it up so there’s no meat taste in the tofu,” Woohyun says with a smile.

Ten minutes later, a door busts open, surprising everyone in the room.

“YAH, WHERE’S ZITAO??”

Zitao moves to the entry door and gets attacked by Dongwoo, who is laughing like a hyena, excited to see his old friend. It is not long after Dongwoo enter did the rest of the INFINITE and Ingook arrive and, except for Ingook, they all go wild at the sight of Zitao in front of them. Zitao gets smothered with hugs and hair rufflings and laughter before he feels that he can finally stand on his own again. Dongwoo is still clinging onto Zitao, his arm around Zitao’s shoulders.

Zitao sees a tall guy with a slight grimace on his face, almost sneering down at him. He feels intimidated by his height but Howon moves closer to the guy, introducing him as Seo Ingook, his boyfriend. Howon informs Ingook that Zitao is an old friend of the group, going way back in middle school. Ingook acknowledges Zitao with a smile, a “hello” and a handshake, which Zitao accepts.

They all settle down for dinner at the table as Woohyun announces that dinner is ready to eat. The INFINITE members brought some desserts to conclude the dinner feast afterwards.

There are sounds of chatter and laughter as the group eats dinner, often praising Woohyun for the delicious stir-fry vegetables and the mouth-watering meats. Zitao and Ingook are the only ones eating the tofu, although Ingook eats meat too.

After filling their stomachs with dinner, ice cream, and cakes, the group sighs and gathers at the couches. Howon lies on the couch with his head on Ingook’s lap, and Ingook is mindlessly raking his hand through Howon’s hair. Sungyeol and Myungsoo are sitting on the floor, leaning against each other. Zitao is sandwiched between Dongwoo and Sungjong, while Woohyun and Sunggyu wash the dishes.

Once Woohyun and Sunggyu are done, they head over to join the group in the living room. They all sit in comfortable silence for a while when suddenly Sungjong checks the time and gets a jolt.

“Sunggyu-hyung, it’s almost 10PM. It’s a Thursday night!”

Sunggyu glances at the clock and sits up too. “Oh yeah, you’re right. I thought today was Friday what with the celebration in here…” Everyone voices their agreement. Zitao sulks a bit, wishing that he did not have to leave so soon, even Dongwoo’s and Sungjong’s faces show the same disappointment.

“Zitao-yah, you’re welcome to come by here anytime if you like. Here are our phone numbers if you wanna text us. I’m aware you already have your group of friends, but if you feel like you want to introduce us to them, I’m sure we can arrange a social gathering place, since this place can only fit 10 people.” Sunggyu hands Zitao a card that contains all 7 phone numbers from the members.

“Come on, I’ll drive you home. It’s too dark out there for you to walk by yourself.” Sunggyu gets up from the couch and stretches. “Mmgh, that stretch was really necessary. Everyone, I’ll be back in a while. Sungjong-ah, you have classes tomorrow, don’t forget. You guys, too, Myungsoo-yah and Sungyeol-ah. Don’t be late tomorrow.”

Sunggyu goes to grab his keys and Woohyun gets up to retrieve Zitao’s laptop bag from the closet. Everyone gets up, though unwillingly, to follow Zitao out of the apartment. Sunggyu goes outside and waits for Zitao as he gets his laptop bag from Woohyun and exits out of the apartment, with the others following him. They all say their “good nights”, “good byes” and “see you laters”, and Zitao finds himself once more enveloped in hugs. After hugging Zitao, Woohyun goes up to Sunggyu to give him a peck on the cheek and says, “Drive safe, Gyugyu~”, making Sunggyu scoff in a lighthearted manner, shaking his head with an amused look.

“Come on, Zitao, let’s get you home.”

The duo rides down the elevator in comfortable silence, and finally they go outside of the apartment building, surrounded in the dark, night sky and fresh air. As they head over to the parking lot, Sunggyu stops midstep, blinking.

“…Where did I park my car?”

Zitao nervously looks over at Sunggyu, and Sunggyu looks around the parking lot. “Huh, I could’ve sworn the last time I parked, it was there. Now I kind of wished my car came with a remote control key so it can light up with a push of the button. Maybe it’s further down here. Sorry, Zitao-yah. I’m getting old, hahaha,” Sunggyu jokes.

Zitao smiles and shakes his head, shrugging too. Sunggyu assumes if Zitao could speak, he would be saying “it’s alright, people forget things sometimes.” He continues to search for his car, getting a little frustrated…until he turns around at the corner.

“Ah-ha! There it is!” Finding his red car, Sunggyu beams and turns around to look at Zitao, who is slightly smiling cheerily. Once they reach the car and Sunggyu has unlocked his car, they get in and Zitao writes him the address.

“Oh that’s a little past the ChaKeo Corner, you’ll see it.”

Zitao blinks while nodding, taking in this information for future reference. Sunggyu drives the car out of the parking lot and heads for Zitao’s place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KIM SOOHEE = G-i-m S-u-h-ui


	17. A Warm Welcome, a House Visit and a Sad Tale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger for deaths

“Himchan…ah.”

Himchan has just written the last few key points of his professor’s lecture in his notes; the professor has recently dismissed the class and now, amidst the sounds of students once again hustling and bustling their ways out of the classroom, Himchan hears Yongguk calling out his name behind him, with a suffix that he has never heard Yongguk address him with before. He slowly turns around, facing Yongguk with a wary look. The past few days have been awkward for them, though Himchan was relieved last Thursday when Jongup returned his notebook from Yongguk through Jongin.

Ever since his notebook was returned, Himchan has not known how to act around Yongguk, looking for any signs of Yongguk knowing what he wrote in his notebook. Even though Yongguk knows, he does not let it show, leaving Himchan to believe he has never seen Himchan’s doodles. However, Yongguk has toned down his blunt flirting, since they soon need to start working on their project that is due in two months’ time. Himchan has avoided Yongguk these past few days, and Yongguk has wanted to share his brilliant idea for the project.

Now, in the almost empty classroom, Yongguk and Himchan hold their longest eye contact ever, until Yongguk looks away, clearing his throat, and he asks Himchan.

“I want to suggest something for our project…”

Himchan frowns at him in slight panic. “What project?”

Yongguk’s eyes flicker back to Himchan with a surprised look. Blinking, he speaks slowly, later picking up the pace. “The…project. The one our professor mentioned last week…Well, he hadn’t mentioned anything about it since then but…I’m sure you must remember the project? The one due in December, where we have to create a presentation for the class, dealing with the interaction and exposure to different styles. The professor mentioned we could do anything we want with music.”

Himchan’s eyes glance around in confusion, obviously unable to remember anything about it. He shrugs lightly.

“Wow,” Yongguk breathes. “You really did not pay attention that day…Well, I asked you if we could be partners, do you remember that?”

“YAH, I’m not that stupid to forget that,” Himchan complains, but he does not know that he subconsciously is gripping his notebook. “I…remember that part. So what do you have in mind?”

“Well,” Yongguk shifts a bit in his seat, leaning forward. Himchan slightly backs away on instinct. Yongguk catches that brief movement and chuckles, “I was thinking of creating a hybrid genre. You see, you have your strong traditional music background, and I have my strong western hip-hop music background. We can find some way to merge these two music styles. What do you think?”

Himchan blinks, stunned to hear a word that Yongguk is saying. “Are you asking me to deface the well-respected reputations of these traditional instr-”

 **“** No no, that isn’t even my intention at all. My intention is quite the opposite. I want to bring these instruments to light, because I can see their potential to make awesome music, you know what I’m saying? It’ll be fun!” Yongguk has this gummy smile on his face, like he has found gold.

Himchan looks at Yongguk dubiously, “…I suppose.”

“Great! May I get your contact info? ‘Cause I tried to ask you last week but you ran off, and uh, you’ve been kind of avoiding me lately.” Yongguk’s smile fades and an expression of uncertainty replaces his then-excited face as he scratches the back of his neck.

“Oh…right, yeah...” Himchan trails off, the memory of last Thursday still creeping into his brain, and he blushes. “Um, here, lemme write it down.” A little distracted, he immediately writes his phone number and email on a page of Yongguk’s notebook; not noticing how Yongguk tried to stop him because he already has his cell phone out on his desk.

“Okay, great so uhm…heh,” Yongguk chuckles at Himchan’s distracted state of mind, craning his head to read Himchan’s email username, ‘MusicOfOld_gnr8N’, _Music Of Old generatioN_. Even though Yongguk thinks it is a long username, and a corny one, at least he can tell that it has Himchan’s surname in it. He enters Himchan’s phone number into his phone. “I’ll give you a call and you can save it into your phone; same for emailing, I’ll email you. Lemme call you right now.” Yongguk says as he dials and brings his phone to his ear.

“But wait, there’s pe-“ Himchan looks around the classroom, and it is mostly empty except for the two of them. “…Never mind.” He takes out his cell phone and stares down at it, waiting for Yongguk’s call to go through. When it does, he feels his cell phone momentarily vibrate before he pushes the button hurriedly to turn the vibration off. Himchan sees Yongguk’s number and saves it into his contacts.

“So, when would you like to meet up, after school today, or this weekend, or what?” Himchan briskly asks Yongguk.

“Yeah, we can meet up today. You don't have to bring anything. We’ll go to my house, and I can show you some of my albums you can listen to, you know, just to get the feel of it. Let me warn you, though. I have a younger brother who’s in high school, so he can be a bit too much to handle, for other people, it seems. I also have an older sister who’s a freelance rapper and a dance instructor. You know, I think I might have seen your brother…if ‘Jongup’ is your brother?” Himchan blinks at him and slowly nods, wondering how the heck did Yongguk know this. As if reading his mind, Yongguk replies with a smirk, “It wasn’t that hard to hear you last Tuesday during lunch when you called out to him.” It leaves Himchan blushing and stuttering to make up some poor excuse for not being so composed with himself.

Yongguk chuckles and continues on, “Jongin and Sehun told me about Jongup. He seems like a nice kid, from what I hear. But anyway, next week Saturday, we can meet up at your place. You can show me your instruments, and I can listen to your cds of your performances and other traditional music performances. In the weeks to come after that, we’ll experiment at one of our studios and work out a piece for us to play for the class. What do you think?”

Himchan nods, thinking hard about this. _Maybe it won’t be so bad after all, I think this could work out really well,_ he thinks to himself.

A sudden vibration on his cell phone interrupts Himchan’s thoughts as he jerks awake, and Yongguk gives him a concerned look. Himchan looks at his cell phone, a text message from Hyosung. He checks it and receives good news.

To: Kim Himchan  
From: Jeon Hyosung

_Himchannie! I got the job! You’re looking at the dance instructor teacher assistant right now! I’m gonna go celebrate with some old friends, is that okay? I kinda promised them that I would meet up with them. We’ll celebrate sometime this weekend if we can._

_Huh, old friends? She must mean the friends from her college, I guess…Eh, I’ll surprise her later this weekend with a date,_ Himchan thinks to himself with a shrug.

“What was that about?”

Himchan jolts, forgetting that he is not the only one in the room, as he looks into Yongguk’s concerned eyes. His mind goes blank, and all he can say is, “Mm…”

“…Mm?”

“Uh…no, it’s uh…” Himchan blinks as he waves with his cell phone in his hand, making out as brushing off air, “It’s just that my girlfriend got the job, heh. But she’s celebrating with her old friends, though I think she means her friends from college, which was not too long ago…she’s gonna be this” – he reads his cell phone – “dance instructor teacher assistant.” He looks up at Yongguk, who raises his eyebrows at the title.

“That’s a long name to be addressed.”

“That’s what I thought too. But as long as she’s happy with what she’s doing, I’m fine with that. And uh…” Himchan turns around as he makes to stand up from his seat, still holding his cell phone in his hand. He gathers the rest of his stuff into his laptop bag, “…I think we should get going for lunch, we’re the only ones here, Yongguk-sshi.”

“Hm? Oh, are we?” Yongguk looks around from his seat. “Oh wow, seems like you’re right. Wanna join me for lunch?” He gathers his stuff and stands up as well, glancing at Himchan when he offers lunch.

“Ah, no that’s o-”

As Himchan makes to follow Yongguk up the stairs since Yongguk is already walking up, there is a sudden vibration in his hand, which causes Himchan to look down at his cell phone again. _A text from Jongup…wait, is he okay?,_ Himchan mildly panics as he flips open the cell phone and reads the text.

To: Himmie Hyung  
From: Cheetos

_Hyung, I’m going to go eat with Jongin and Sehun for lunch. Is that okay with you? Please don’t be mad or worried, hyung~ I’ll be eating with them at the food courtyard but it’ll probably be in a different area. I’ll see you after class! ^_^;_

“Actually, I’ll take up the offer.” Himchan continues to walk up the stairs, as Yongguk is waiting for him at the top. “My brother’s gonna eat with his friends. Is that okay with you, Yongguk-ssh-”

“Himchan-ah,” Yongguk interrupts with a slightly pained voice, making Himchan falter in his steps, “we’re friends. No need to be all polite with the ‘-sshi’ on me. I’ve called you ‘Himchannie’ for the past few days, and even ‘Himchan-ah’ today. We’re even in the same year. Speak comfortably with me, ok?”

Himchan fidgets in his standing position, appearing to think about it. Finally, he gives in. “…Okay…Yongguk…goon.” Himchan cringes a bit.

Yongguk notices the slight movement, and he suddenly asks Himchan, “Don’t you have your group of friends? Since you’re kinda well known in the music department, as I’ve heard from my girlfriend too. Actually, more like _really_ well known. Figured a guy like you would have some friends, though…”

Himchan blushes. Yongguk waits for Himchan to say something, but Himchan is thinking to himself, _Man, I have been blushing like this one too many times with_ him _around. Why does it have to be Yongguk?_ He continues to walk until he is at the top of the stairs, standing in front of Yongguk. “I…don’t, actually…erm…yeah. Hyosung, my girlfriend, is also my only best friend. I don’t really have a time to be social, anyway.” They start to walk out of the classroom and head to the Food Courtyard. Yongguk is paying attention to every word he says, and Himchan is half-nervous and half-glad that someone cares about his well-being. “Er…I-I came here to study, and to help my brother do well in school. I have even done some part-time jobs inside and outside of campus; right now, I’m assisting an old professor of mine. He’ll call on me the night before to either temporarily preside the lectures in the next day or help him grade some papers. Our pa-…” Himchan catches himself from saying the rest of the word “parents”, because he does not want to think on the memory of his parents. Yongguk has been looking ahead and listening to him, until he hears Himchan hesitate and he looks at him, waiting to hear the rest of it.

Himchan clears his throat, “I’m sure people have spread rumors that I have a rich status, but I don’t. I never called myself rich, because the money I had…was passed down. I don’t even intend to use that money unless necessary, and I can manage working jobs to earn enough money for Jongup and I. I earned my own money to be able to pay off half of both my and Jongup’s tuitions, using some of the inherited money to pay the other half.”

Yongguk looks at Himchan with pitiful eyes, figuring out what Himchan was trying hard not to say out loud. However, he does not bring it up, and can only wait until Himchan is ready to tell him. “Himchan-ah,” Yongguk lifts one of his arms to drape over Himchan’s shoulders, and he can feel Himchan flinching a bit before getting a bit stiff under his arm. “Whoa, okay. First of all, you need to relax, I’m your friend from now on. I mean it. Second of all, I really respect what you do. You sound like a hero to your brother, a role model that everyone can learn from you and respect you so much. Your parents must be proud of you.” He does not miss Himchan’s slight reaction to when he says ‘your parents’, as Himchan looks down and sag his shoulders.

“Third, you’re gonna be meeting my younger group of friends, as well as my girlfriend. I’ve known some of them for quite a long time. Third, I know you’re mature enough, but I will let you know two of my friends, that you’re about to meet, are deaf.” Himchan glances at Yongguk upon hearing ‘deaf’, and he frowns a bit as he listens to Yongguk. “With a capital D, actually. One of them wears hearing aids, so he can talk for himself most times. His brother sometimes interprets for him. The other one, whom I have known, and his brother too, for a long time, is fully deaf, so don’t be surprised at his hands. However, it is courtesy that you look at him when you talk, but you can look at his brother, or his friend, or me, when we interpret for him. Fourth, I have just recently met the other group of friends through my recently acquainted friend, and among that group of friends, one is blind and the other is mute. Just so you know, it’s quite a big group when you have two groups of friends together.” Himchan nods in understanding and smiles a bit.

“Why are you doing this?”

Yongguk smiles and shrugs, “You look lonely most of the time, even when you have your girlfriend and your brother around. I figured you need a friend, or actually, one large group of friends, in this case.” Himchan chuckles, and Yongguk suddenly looks at him, a grin creeping on his face. “Yah, Himchan-ah… was that a chuckle I heard just now?”

Himchan stares at Yongguk, unsure if he hears it right. “…Yah, I’m not the stiff, formal type. I’m just dignified; it doesn’t mean I’m a robot or some kind of stoic person.” He lightly hits Yongguk on the chest with the back of his hand, and Yongguk looks slightly amused.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

It does not take long for the duo to find Yongguk’s group of friends at the plaza court and all eyes, except for one guy’s Himchan notices, are on him when the duo arrives. Himchan spots Joonmyeon and is surprised to see him there **.** Joonmyeon shows a smile and a nod, but says nothing to acknowledge their recent acquaintance. Yongguk lets his arm drop away from Himchan’s shoulders to let Himchan introduce himself to the group. Himchan notices how the only female in the group seems a bit star-struck as she looks at him, and some of the guys are looking impressed by him. Himchan assumes that either Yongguk must have told them about him or that they knew him by rumors and traveling news in the music department.

“Er…” Himchan glances at Yongguk, who gives him an encouraging nod. “H-hi, I’m Moon Himchan. Music Grad Student.” He sees a younger guy with a nice, alluring face of a child, as the guy appears to be making shapes with his hand to two other guys who are glancing between Himchan and the guy with the shaping hand. He falters a bit before coming back on track, “I’m with him.”

Himchan points to Yongguk, and everybody raises their eyebrows at him before looking at Yongguk. The guys then glance at Jieun and back at Himchan, looking a bit confused. Himchan realizes his mistake a few seconds later, and he corrects himself.

“UH, I MEAN…ahem…I mean, I’m in the same class with Yongguk-ss…“ – Himchan suddenly sneaks a glance at Yongguk, who is watching him with a ‘what did I tell you?’ look – “…goon.”

“Yongguk’s goon? You’re in the same class, not with Yongguk-hyung, but with his friend?” Chanyeol asks, and Baekhyun wheels around in his seat, facing him.

“What. Chanyeol, Himchan-sshi just pointed at Yongguk-hyung and called him ‘him’ earlier, remember? He’s just clearing it up, right, Himchan-sshi?”

“Y-yeah,” Himchan nods. “I was just cleari-‘

“Call him ‘hyung’, Baekhyun-ah. Everyone here who is a 91’er or younger will address Himchan by ‘hyung’. Jongin and Sehun will also need to know this. However, this excludes you guys, Luhan-goon and Jieun-ah, will address him as ‘hyung’. I want to invite him into our circle of friends, ok?” Yongguk orders. There is no feeling of resentment on the faces of the group members as they all nod in agreement.

“Actually, Yongguk-hyung,” Joonmyeon’s voice emerges from the chorus of “sure”s and “yeah”s. Himchan looks to Joonmyeon and sees the genuineness in his eyes as he speaks, “Jongin, Sehun and I met Himchan a few days ago, during that time he was with Jongup. He asked us to call him ‘hyung’ at that time, so looking back from today, I don’t have a problem with calling him ‘hyung’ nor inviting him into our group of friends. Himchan-hyung, welcome to our group. I will let the members introduce themselves starting with Jongdae all the way to JB. Jongdae-yah, why don’t you go ahead?”

Himchan looks around and follows everyone’s gaze to a young man named Jongdae who has been looking in Joonmyeon’s direction and he grips the edge of the table as he stands up. Himchan notices that this Jongdae must be blind because Jongdae is momentarily trying to find his surroundings as he extends his arm, assuming where Himchan is standing. Himchan quickly goes over to the guy and takes Jongdae’s hand into his hands. _Jongdae almost looked at me in the face but was a bit off to the left_ , Himchan observes.

“Hi! I’m Lee Jongdae. 2nd year Math student! Nice to meet you, Himchan-hyung!” Himchan is not ready for the blinding smile that Jongdae has the moment he starts to speak, nor the bubbly voice. It slightly reminds him of Jongup, mostly the bright smile. Jongdae makes to sit down and Himchan helps him. The next guy is sitting near Jongdae and he has a nice, long face. He stands up and introduces himself with a smile to be Zhang Yixing, senior dance student. Himchan can detect a faint Chinese accent in his voice. Himchan gives a friendly nod and bow. The next is Luhan, whom Yongguk was referring to earlier, and he calls Himchan “goon”. He explains that he and Yixing are brothers. _Wow, they both have that handsome gene for their faces. Luhan’s got quite a doll-like face,_ Himchan thinks to himself. Luhan then introduces Huang Zitao, who holds up his notepad and on it has his name written in both Chinese and Korean, as well as his major, and an extra line to mention him being classmates with Jongdae. Himchan bows his head in acknowledgement.

Looking to Joonmyeon, Himchan and Joonmyeon chuckle a bit before Joonmyeon says that because he knows him already, he will pass the torch – “so to speak”, he says – to Kyungsoo next to him. The guy named Kyungsoo looks at Himchan, and smiles softly. He raises his hands to speak and sign at the same time.

“Hi, my name is Park Kyungsoo. I’m a 3rd year journalist major. Nice to meet you, Himchan-hyung. And by the way, you can just talk to me, I can hear you fine with my hearing aids.” [HELLO, MY NAME fs<PARK KYUNGSOO> JUNIOR, MY MAJOR JOURNALISM. NICE “MEET-YOU”, fs<HIMCHAN> <HYUNG>. INFORM-YOU, TALK DIRECT-ME CAN, HEAR FINE WITH “HEARING-AIDS”] 

At first, Himchan is caught off-guard with the hand motions but he remembers that Yongguk had informed him about his two Deaf friends. As soon as the awkwardness inside him dissipates after Kyungsoo says that Himchan can just talk directly to him, he resorts to waving and saying “hello.” Kyungsoo makes a gesture to indicate it is the next guy’s turn, and Himchan looks at the next guy.

As soon as the guy speaks, Himchan gets startled with the odd pronunciations this guy is having, but then Yongguk comes to his side. A few seconds after Daehyun speaks, Yongguk then interprets for Himchan, who gets startled at first but gets used to it later on.

“Hi, mai nem Shung D’aeheohn. Sem wid K’eonz-oo, therd yir shurnlist mayshor. Nais meezu, Himjan-‘yeohng.” [HI, MY NAME fs<JUNG DAEHYUN> SAME-HIM *He indicates Kyungsoo* JUNIOR, MAJOR JOURNALISM. NICE “MEET-YOU” fs<HIMCHAN> <HYUNG>] 

Yongguk’s voice fills Himchan’s ears and Himchan cannot resist a little shudder, slightly blushing. “My name is Jung Daehyun…I’m also a third year student with Kyungsoo, and in journalism. Nice to meet you, Himchan-hyung.” Himchan glances between Daehyun and Yongguk, a little confused with Yongguk’s usage of “I”, but he dares not to question it. The awkwardness comes back again and he tries to push it aside by just doing the same thing he did with Kyungsoo: smile and wave, but also say “Nice to meet you too.”

Himchan then meets Baekhyun and Chanyeol, and he will be lying if he says that he does not know that they are a couple, because Chanyeol has Baekhyun in his arms with Baekhyun’s back relaxing against his chest. After them, he meets Jieun, who is feeling nervous but she keeps her posture as she introduces herself. Himchan thinks to himself, _She’s quite pretty, Yongguk is lucky to have her._ Youngjae and JB then introduce themselves last, and Himchan feels a little overwhelmed with a lot of names. He experiments with the group in guessing their names, and he gets it right on the first try.

“Shall we sit down then?” Yongguk offers to Himchan and they both sit across from Kyungsoo and Daehyun. Himchan glances at Jieun, thinking that she might be jealous that Yongguk is not sitting with her, but to his surprise, she is not. She still maintains the happy, shy look on her face when they make eye contact. The whole group fall into conversation and Himchan finds himself chuckling and talking comfortably with them during lunch. Although Himchan does not notice, Yongguk has been keeping an eye on him most of the time with a smile on his face, and glancing at Jieun to wink at her.

Himchan keeps a lookout for his brother as he takes out his lunch that he has made once again for himself and for Jongup. He tries to do it as subtly as possible, but with having so many friends surrounding him, it is bound to happen that at least one member will catch on to what he is doing. Yongguk, Daehyun, Zitao, Kyungsoo and Youngjae notice his behavior, and after hearing that Jongin and Sehun have accompanied Jongup, they assure Himchan that the trio will be just fine. Himchan bites the bottom of his lip in worry but he nods, accepting their reassurance.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

After the group splits up, everyone except Yongguk and Himchan go to classes. As for the two of them, they spend some time talking about each other while waiting near the entrance gates for Jongup and JB to finish classes. The two guys are playing rock-paper-scissors game when Himchan hears Jongup shouting his name. Yongguk notices the mixture of relief and exhilaration on Himchan’s face when Himchan looks at Jongup. He looks in the same direction as Himchan and sees Jongup accompanied with JB and, surprisingly enough, Jieun. Himchan gets up, unintentionally ignoring Yongguk, and walks over to Jongup to give him a hug. With one arm, he wraps Jongup’s back and cups the back of Jongup’s head with another hand before bringing Jongup close to him, resting his chin on Jongup’s head.

“How’s my little Jonguppie-ah? Hyung really missed you a lot, you know.”

“Hyung, haha, I know, I missed you too. I heard from JB-hyung and Jieun-noona that you met our big group of friends, though. Didn’t I tell you that they’re pretty nice?” Jongup beams up at him as he slightly pulls away from Himchan. Himchan smiles as he nods.

“AIGOO~ YOU TWO. IT’S SO CUTE. Jonguppie is so precious, I feel like crying,” Jieun coos. “Yah, Himchan-ah, why are you so affectionate only to your brother? Can’t you show us some affection too?” She pouts.

“Eh? But you have Yongguk for that, Jieun…ah,” Himchan says the suffix a bit tentatively; he is still trying to get used to acknowledging them as equals, as friends.

“Oh, I know but it’s like a whole other side of you that we have never seen, and I, well most of us would like to see you like that. You’re so comfortable and more yourself, instead of stuttering and all.”

“Ah, well, then in that case, Jongup will have to join me every time we all meet. I’m sure you don’t have a problem with that, hmm, my little Jonguppie?” Himchan shoots the question to his brother, who looks up at him with a teasing look.

“Hyung, you know I don’t have a problem with you hanging out with us but come onnn~ hyung, I’m getting too old to be little. I’m in college!” Jongup whines.

“Not if you act like that, you aren’t. You’re still my little brother, you’ll always be my little brother,” Himchan holds Jongup’s head in his hands and brushes noses with him, ignoring Jongup’s complaining grunt and attempts to resist Himchan’s affections. JB looks on, a little bit amused but slightly uncomfortable to this kind of brotherly affection. Yongguk blinks and glances at Jieun, who is still rooted to her spot, fawning over them. After Himchan pulls away, he drapes one of his arms over Jongup’s shoulder and nudges him gently. “Come on, we’re going home later; Yongguk’s inviting us to his place so we can check out some music for our project. He has a younger brother who’s in high school, see if you can hang out with him too. Also a noona. We’ll be home for dinner, don’t worry. Shall we go, Yongguk-goon?” Yongguk nods and, gathering JB and Jieun close to him, he leads the way to his apartment.

On the way to Yongguk’s place, Yongguk asks Jieun what is the reason that she is joining them.

“Oh, your sister wants to see me.”

“Did she now? Huh…may I ask why?” Yongguk’s curiosity gets the better of him.

“It’s a secret, she says~” Jieun singsongs and Yongguk deflates. The others laugh.

When the chatting group gets to the door of Yongguk’s apartment on the fourth floor of the apartment building, a voice calls out behind the door, just as Yongguk is about to reach for his key in his pocket.

“HYUNG~ IS THAT YOU? JIEUN-NOONA? OH, JR. JB-HYUNG’S HERE, TOO. Annndd two other people I do not know.”

“Wha…Junhong-ah, how did you know?” Yongguk and everyone are surprised. There is no peephole evident on the door.

“’Cause JR and I saw you earlier and rode home on our skateboards as fast as we could. Got here 10 minutes ago and now I’m watching you from under the door. It’s a tight space to look through but better than nothing.”

Yongguk glances down to the floor and knocks on the door, announcing that he will be letting the group come in, else he will sweep Junhong on the floor with the door. He hears Junhong scrambling and unlocking the door before the group sees Junhong in person.

Himchan and Jongup are shocked.

They do not expect Junhong to be…well… _tall._

Junhong stands over six feet tall, almost as tall as Yongguk himself, a few inches taller than Himchan and over a head taller than Jongup. At first, Junhong stares at Himchan and Jongup with big, curious eyes and then he suddenly bursts out a smile so infectious and charming. Himchan suddenly starts to have the urge to baby him as well.

“Hello! My name is Bang Junhong! I’m in high school. Come on in!” Junhong steps aside to let the group enter the place. “YAH, JINYOUNG-GOON! JR-YAH!”

A scrambling of feet hurries from the hallway and everyone sees a young man with a honey skin tone and spiked black hair coming in. There is a huge height difference between JR and Junhong. JR greets with a wave, “HI HYUNGS, HI NOONA! Ah, who are you two?” He cocks his head at the sight of Himchan and Jongup.

Yongguk smiles and raises one of his arms to indicate towards the Moon brothers, “These are our friends, the Moon brothers. Junhong-ah and Jinyoung-ah, this is Moon Himchan and Moon Jongup. Himchan’s my year in music and Jongup is one year older than you two; he’s a dance major, so maybe you two can get closer with music, yeah? Call them ‘hyungs’, okay?”

“Oh, ok! Hello Himchan-hyung and Jongup-hyung!” Junhong and Jinyoung greet the brothers warmly with a bow. Yongguk switches the tables around, introducing the Moon brothers to Junhong and Jinyoung, adding that Jinyoung is Jaebum’s brother – “we mostly call them JR and JB,” Yongguk adds.

“Hello, guys! OH, HI JIEUN-AH~!” An older female with blonde hair enters the area where the whole group is gathered, and her outfit makes her look as if ready to go out somewhere, with her purse hanging on the crook of her arm. She spots Jieun among the group.

“Hey, noona. This is Moon Himchan and Jongup, they’re brothers. Himchan’s my year and Jongup’s a freshman in college, a year older than Junhong-ah and Jinyoung-ah. Guys, this is my noona, Bang Hana. She’s a couple years older than me.” Yongguk introduces the party.

“Hana as in hana, dul, set, A, B, C~,” Hana singsongs with a chuckle. Himchan and Jongup smile and nod, before bowing to her. “Very nice to meet you both! But oh my goodness, Moon Jongup, is that correct?” – Jongup blinks as he points to himself, and nods – “AIGOO, you’re so cuuute!! I mean, Junhonggie-ah is cute but he’s tall so it kinda ruins it for me” – “NOONA!” Junhong exclaims in despair – “hehehe, but with your height, no offense, Jonguppie-yah, it just makes you all the more adorableee~, Yah, Yongguk-ah, why did you not tell me Jongup was adorable?? And Himchan-ah,” Hana giggles, and Yongguk gives her a warning glare, “you are _very_ handsome. Yongguk must be lucky to have a _really handsome_ guy friend like you, don’t you think so, Yonggukkie?” She gives Yongguk a smug look, and Yongguk shakes his head faintly with a glare still on his face.

Himchan smirks and scratches his nose, glancing at Jongup, who is slightly blushing and smiling at the compliment. They thank her and Hana coos back.

“Unnie, did you need to tell me something?” Jieun asks, getting Hana’s attention. Hana looks at her blankly for a moment before remembering the text she sent her earlier. “Oh yeah! Jieun-ah, we should get going! I wanna show you something very cool! Sorry guys for being here for a short time, but it was nice seeing you all! Bye!” She hurries to take Jieun’s hand and Jieun waves to Yongguk in a rush before the guys see the two girls exit of the apartment.

“Wonder what it is that noona wants to show Jieun-noona?” Junhong mutters to himself.

“Jinyoung-ah, we need to go. Are you almost ready?” Jaebum asks his brother. JR nods and goes into the hallway to Junhong’s bedroom to get his stuff. “Yongguk-hyung, my brother and I best be going. We’ll see you next week, yeah? Himchan-hyung, Jongup-ah, it was nice to meet you guys!” – JR comes back with his backpack and skateboard – “Okay, guys. Have a great weekend!” JB bids goodbye to the group as JR does too, and the whole group says their “goodbyes” as well. JR closes the door, being the last to leave, and now the Bang brothers and Moon brothers are left in the room.

“Jongup-hyung, wanna come to my room and dance? I got some hip-hop albums and R&B albums that you might want to give a listen to.” Junhong beckons Jongup to follow him, and Jongup glances at Himchan before nodding with a gentle smile. Jongup follows Junhong into the hallway and they head to Junhong’s room.

“Guess all that’s left for us to do is head over to my room and get down and busy, eh? My apologies, princess. Would it please your majesty if I may escort you to my chambers?” Yongguk smirks as he nods his head towards the hallway where his room is located in. Himchan blushes as he shakes his head in amusement, chuckling, “Again with the princess, enough of that, you punk. Hahaha, if you mean filling my ears with your powerful bass sounds of booming beatbox beats, then yes, we’re getting down and busy.”

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

“So, Jieun-ah, what’s the thing that you were gonna tell me earlier in that text?”

Earlier, Jieun and Hana were planning earlier to meet with Sunhwa and Hyosung at Jieun’s place. Hyosung called Jieun during lunch that she got the job, and that she wanted to celebrate with her old friends, her SECRET friends from high school; however, she did not want Jieun to spill the reason why to Sunhwa and Hana, just to have them meet at Jieun’s place. So Jieun texted Sunhwa and Hana, without telling them the reason why, to meet at her place. She informed Hana that she was on her way to get her, so Hana had to be ready to leave once Jieun and the guys arrive at the Bangs’ apartment.

“Not yet, unnie. Sunhwa and Hyosung-unnie should be at my house. Hyosung has the good news, actually. I guess we’ll find out!”

When Hana and Jieun get to Jieun’s place, they see Sunhwa waiting for them. Jieun opens the door and they all enter her place. “Hyosung has not yet arrived,” Sunhwa says a bit worriedly. “I hope she’s al-“

“IT’S TIME, TIME TIME TO SHINE! TIME TIME TIME, SECRET TIME!!” Hyosung exclaims from the entrance door of the apartment, and the four girls squeal and jump around, hugging each other. They start to do group dances of “Madonna”, “Shy Boy”, “Love is Move” and “Magic”.

After hours of screaming, laughing, catching up on their lives and doing group dances that they had done in high school, the girls fall back onto the sofa, a bit tired out from all the excitement earlier.

“Ahh~ whew, so Hyosung-unnie, what’s the good news that you wanted us to here for today?” Sunhwa asks.

“Ah! I got a job as a dance instructor teacher/assistant today! I’ll be assisting my professor and teaching in several of her classes!”

“Wow! That’s awesome! Unnie, I’m proud of you!” The girls praise and congratulate Hyosung for her job success, and Hyosung thanks them. Jieun offers tea in which everyone accepts the offer, and so Jieun goes to the kitchen to make some tea. She can hear the group chatting in the living room. She smiles and hums to herself the song that she wrote a few years back, “Yesterday”. When the teakettle whistles and she has her teacups laid out on the tray, she brings the tray to the living room.

The girls compliment Jieun on her lovely tea set and Jieun thanks them before getting the teakettle. She pours water onto another teakettle that holds the tea leaves, letting the water seep through the small cylindrical basket of leaves and fill the kettle. After waiting a few more minutes, the tea is ready to be poured into the four cups. The ladies enjoy their first cup of tea, toasting to Hyosung’s job success.

“So, Jieun-ah, you had left me in a hurry that day when we first met, I was wondering what was up?” Hyosung asks after the girls had several cups of tea. They all have their tea cups and saucers on their laps.

“Ah, heh…uhm…unnie, this is a bit weird to talk about,” Jieun says nervously as she replies to Hyosung, glancing at Hana.

“Nonsense! It’s fine! We used to gossip a lot back then, I remember,” Hyosung chuckles at the memory. “Oh, we were such a fun quartet, and we still are!”

“You guys were and still are the best thing that happened to me in and since high school,” Sunhwa says and everyone melts at the comment.

“Okay, Hyosung-unnie, you asked for it, I’ll give you my answer,” Jieun says with an air of finality, piquing Hyosung’s interest as well as the interests of the other girls.

“My boyfriend, Yongguk, is Hana’s brother…” Jieun says, and everyone slowly nods at the fact. “Your boyfriend, Hyosung-unnie, is Moon Himchan…” She trails off into silence, leaving the girls hanging on every word. She looks at Hana and for a moment, Hana looks confused but then she figures it out with a gasp of realization, her free hand covering her mouth.

“What? What? What’s going on?” Sunhwa and Hyosung hear Hana gasp. Hana shakes her head noncommittally.

“Yah, what’s wrong?” Hyosung asks concerned. “What is it about our boyfriends, Himchan and Yongguk?”

“Well…my brother is…bisexual, he came out years after we graduated high school. And um…” Hana looks a bit uncomfortable. “…He’s been talking about a Moon Himchan that he likes, and I know how I can tell that Yonggukkie is really in love with him. He fell for Himchan exactly the same way he fell with Jieunnie-yah here. Don’t get me wrong; Yongguk still loves Jieun and Jieun’s fine with his bisexuality.” Jieun nods. “She’s totally flexible with that. But, earlier today, I met Himchan for the first time, and wow, he _is_ really handsome. But Hyosung-ah, he’s your boyfriend…” Hana says weakly to her best friend. “I don’t know whether to be happy or sad about this.”

“Ah, I knew this was gonna happen,” Hyosung says resignedly.

“What? You did? When? How?” The girls ask her confusedly, taken aback at this surprising comment.

“A few days ago, Himchan had lost his notebook and he started acting a bit differently. He kissed me in public, well more like gave me a peck on the lips in public, but it was unusual because he told me himself that he doesn’t like PDAs…Later, we went out to a café for lunch, me, Jonguppie and Himchan. He told me the truth about why he was panicking about his notebook and why he was acting a bit differently that day. His notebook, he told me, had doodles of ‘Bang Yongguk’ and some lines from Shakespeare because he and Yongguk apparently have an interest for Shakespeare.

“I knew something had changed in him after he told me about Yongguk. In fact, I also met Jieun-ah before I saw Himchan. You were acting a bit weird when you left, and after Himchan told me, I figured it all out.” She comments to Jieun and Jieun averts her eyes, feeling unworthy to look at Hyosung. “I needed some space, though not too much space. I told him today when I got the job that I would be hanging out with some old friends and celebrating with you all. It might take some time to accept that Himchan is falling for the guy, even though he still loves me anyway. I’ve known him for a long time, as best friends, before we got ourselves in a relationship. Himchan was pretty straight, until he met Yongguk…Gosh, even Jonguppie has the same thing, too.”

“Jonguppie?” Hana and Jieun ask curiously. Hana continues, “Why, what about Jonguppie? He’s so cute, by the way, utterly precious and adorable I just wanna hold him in my pocket. Have you seen him, Sunhwa-yah?”

Sunhwa shakes her head and Hyosung chuckles. “Jongup’s pretty much the death for all of us noonas. He’s so precious and the brotherly affection between the two brothers are just so natural and so precious it hurts my heart to remember that they’re the only two family members left.” Hyosung says as she feels a saddening ache in her chest, and the girls cover their mouths in shock. “Their parents died in a car accident…eight years ago. Drunk driver killed them. The parents had gone on a weekend retreat, a couple’s night getaway, that sort of thing, and they were coming back home. Himchan and Jongup were at home when they got the call.” She sniffles. “I found out moments after Himchan received the call, because he was sobbing on the phone and telling Jongup to go away. Himchan was in his room at the time. They had been hit by a drunk driver and the car lost control…off the mountainside.”

The girls gasp with choked tears, and Hyosung continues, “Since we were neighbors, I went over to Himchan’s house, and Jongup, poor Jongup, he was crying because he didn’t know what was going on.” Hyosung wipes the tears that have been falling on her cheeks constantly. “He felt so guilty that Himchan was mad at him, and I had to soothe and console him that his hyung wasn’t mad at him. I couldn’t tell Jongup just yet, because it was not in my place to say. I had him watch tv but I didn’t realize the channel would later have a breaking news. I went to Himchan and comforted him, and then that was when Jongup came into the r-ro-room, asking for his _p-parents_.” She lets out an unintentional squeak on the word ‘parents’, and she chokes in her sobs before clearing her throat. She places her teacup and saucer on the table nearby, bringing her hands to cover her face and wipe off the tears. “’Where’s u-umma? W-where’s a-appa?’ was all that Jongup kept asking and Himchan couldn’t bring himself to say it. And that was when we h-heard Jongup say, ‘T-t-there was some breaking news on tv about a drunk driver being involved in a two-car c-c-crash with two other people. H-hyung, noona, one car f-fell off the mountainside...with a m-man and w-w-woman inside. The drunk driver got away safely with his car scraped but the other car c-crashed…It’s all over the other channels. Hyung, w-where…are u-umma and a…appa? They’re s-supposed to be home…’ Himchan, oh my god, Himchan was wailing after he heard Jongup say it, blaming Jongup for saying it. He felt so heartbroken and couldn’t lift his head to look at Jongup. Jongup, the boy was so scared, he walked up to us, trembling, and tugged on Himchan’s arm, and you could see the poor boy’s tear-streaked face, asking for their parents _over_ _and_ _over_.” Hyosung lets out a sobbing gasp. “Himchan snapped and shouted to Jongup that they’re dead. ‘Because some drunk driver decided to do something stupid on the mountainside and knocked the car, with our parents inside, off the mountainside’ was what he said.

“Jongup, he was so scared and so innocent, he was too young to know what ‘death’ meant, but he knew it was something bad. He asked me when Himchan continued to sob. ‘Are they okay? They’ll be home, right? We’ll see them soon, noona?’” Hyosung’s throat hitches. “ _How_ _do I even tell him?_ The eyes looking at me, looking for some signs of hope, when everything around them is just in despair. How…do I even tell him? And so I told him that…‘they are okay now. They’re in a better place, they have someone taking care of them…’” She sniffles. “‘You won’t see them soon, but you’ll see them later on,’ I said. Jongup realized then, ‘They’re not coming back, are they? Did the car accident kill my parents? Did that drunk driver kill our parents, noona? I want them back, noona. I WANT THEM BACK!’”

Silence hangs over them for a few moments as the girls weep. Hyosung’s voice trembles as she tries to gather strength to continue her story.

“Then Jongup lost it, he fell to his knees on the floor crying and Himchan, he went to console him. He kept muttering to him that he will see them in his dreams, and they’re still alive in their hearts and minds, that they have gone to a better place. And you know what Jongup said that broke my heart?” The girls shake their heads.

“Jongup said to Himchan, ‘Please don’t leave me too. I don’t want you to go. I don’t want to be alone. I’m sorry that I got you mad. Please don’t leave me, hyung’. HNNG!” Hyosung cannot control her voice shaking so bad from the emotions, she pinches her nose and shakes her head. “Gah, it was just so…so…my gosh, it was so heart-wrenching” – Hyosung beats her chest lightly – “to see these two in despair. Himchan was hugging him and rocking him, promising him that he would never leave Jongup’s side. Ever. That he will do what he can to provide for his brother. He wanted Jongup to promise him that he wouldn’t leave his hyung either…They didn’t deserve that to happen to them, the parents didn’t deserve to die then…The parents’ bodies had been found and their funeral happened several days later. Before I moved to the States, Himchan and Jongup were living with relatives, and I still kept in touch with them via email. They were doing pretty well, their house is still there and the parents had left a fortune for their sons. The house became theirs and Himchan, even though they had inherited money, he worked so hard to earn money and help his brother. He was so unselfish and strange, because he has all the money there ready to be use but he doesn’t used them much…And then of course, there’s the traditional music instruments he has in his house that he loves so much.” The girls wipe their tears, noticing that Hyosung is turning the mood in her story.

“But Himchan is Himchan. And he loves Jongup so much he would do anything for him. He takes such good care of his brother, and honestly, I love that about him. Any good outcome for the brothers, they really deserve it…even if it means that Himchan and Jongup having feelings for guys. I’m okay with that, really. It’s up to them to decide how they want to live their lives, it is not up to me to decide who they should love.”

Another silence hangs on them, this time a contemplative one, as the girls agree, nodding their heads. They look around at each other, and smile when they see each other’s tear-streaked faces. They find themselves in fits of giggling until their laughter subsides.

“So, wait, this Moon Jongup, what does he look like now?” Sunhwa asks.

“Oh, he is utterly adorable,” Jieun, Hana and Hyosung say at the same time before laughing at the coincidence. Hyosung describes him to Sunhwa and Sunhwa realizes something.

“That sounds like the same Jongup my brother likes. Jung Daehyun, my deaf brother. Well, he has a twin brother too, Jung Youngjae, but Youngjae’s not deaf,” Sunhwa explains before thinking on Jongup’s description. “Short in height, with short spiked brown hair, eye smiles and muscular build. He must be pretty adorable~”

“He is~” Hana and Jieun coo in reply, before Hana brings up Himchan.

“So what are we gonna do with Himchan and Yongguk here? This is starting to look pretty complicated, if you ask me,” Hana comments.

Jieun and Hyosung look at each other, and Hyosung says, “You know what, let’s get them together. There’s nothing we can lose, anyway. We have each other; we’ll always have each other. I have nothing to lose, either, since Himchan and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember. Jieun-ah, I know you’re familiar with Yongguk’s bisexuality, so it’s up to you how you wanna be in the relationsh-“

“Oh no, I don’t mind leaving these two together. Like you said, we’ll have each other anyway,” Jieun says with a grin.

“Okay, it’s settled then. Let’s get this thing started upp~ Sarangeun move move~ Sarangeun move move~” Hyosung sings while doing the choreography and the rest of the girls join in.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

The next few days go by like clouds passing in the sky in a cloudy sheet, sometimes later forming cottonball clouds or oddly plushy-like clouds. Hyosung, Jieun, Sunhwa, and Hana continue to observe Himchan, Jongup, Daehyun and Yongguk when they can.

On a Thursday, Jongin and Kyungsoo are free to study for their project, Mount Halla. Daehyun has left to check out some books at the library, intending to leave these two alone – _I’m leaving you two lovebirds alone so do something about it while I go to the library and check out some books, text me when you’re done,_ Daehyun had signed to Kyungsoo in fast speed before taking off to the library – and Kyungsoo feels a bit awkward being with Jongin alone now.

As for Jongin, after being a bit shocked from the speed of Daehyun’s signing, he shakes his head slightly to refocus on his assignment and smiles to himself, knowing that it is just the two of them alone for a while, until Daehyun returns. He uses the opportunity to try to get close to Kyungsoo, to open their minds and find out about each other’s interests. He finds out that Jonghyun-hyung is Kyungsoo’s brother, and realizes that it is the same hyung that his hyung, Kibum, is in a relationship with. When Jongin tells Kyungsoo so, he stares at him in disbelief.

“Wow, small world…” Kyungsoo comments. Jongin laughs and nods, “Small world indeed. Are you going to ChaKeo Corner tomorrow night? My hyungs work there, and our group goes there whenever there’re cool performances, like CNBlue.” Kyungsoo nods. Jongin smiles, “Excellent, I’ll ask the rest. You can talk to Daehyun about it.”

Jongin finds out about Kyungsoo’s cooking skills, and he tells Kyungsoo that he wishes to try some of the dishes he has made. “I’m not allergic to anything, so I’m pretty much open-minded to whatever is there to eat,” Jongin says nonchalantly with a shrug. Kyungsoo nods with a smile, keeping that in his head.

At some point of their work and chat, the duo accidently brush hands together as they reach for a book they had found earlier before Daehyun left. They both smile and apologize clumsily before falling back into work.

Jongin stares at Kyungsoo for some time, admiring his personality and facial features. He notices how Kyungsoo bites his lip as he writes, and internally gushes at the sight of Kyungsoo’s eyes cutely wide open when he scans through books for the information he needs and when he looks up at Jongin for something. He easily smiles to himself when he sees a gentle smile on Kyungsoo’s face as he glances between Jongin and the book. For some strange reason, it makes Jongin wonder about Joonmyeon. He wonders since Joonmyeon treats him and Kyungsoo as close, intimate friends, would there be any problem with having Kyungsoo as a college crush, or possibly as a love interest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> J-eo-ng D-ae-h-yeo-n  
> B-ae-k G-yeo-ng-s-u


	18. A Park and a Cafe

It is around Friday noontime when Daehyun and Kyungsoo run into Jongup. Kyungsoo had a few days ago asked Yongguk, JB, Youngjae and Daehyun a few days ago if they were free Friday night to join him and the big group to ChaKeo Corner, but they replied that they already had plans. Daehyun was planning to stay over at Yongguk’s place to meet Himchan and Jongup, while Youngjae was planning to be over at JB’s place. “Maybe next time, but thank you for the offer, Kyungsoo-yah,” Yongguk says with a smile.

Now at lunchtime on Friday, when Daehyun and Kyungsoo greet Jongup, Jongup greets back with some efforts in attempt to get the signs right. His hands often stop and falter before picking up again. He does not talk while he signs, in fear of mixing up his words.

[HI ns<DAEHYUN><HYUNG> ns<KYUNGSOO><HYUNG> HOW...YOU-YOU…DO-DO? THIS SUNRISE CLASS-CLASS YOUR…v(FUNNY)^]  _ (Hi, Daehyun-hyung and Kyungsoo-hyung, How are you and you doing? Your sunrise classes were funny?)  _ Jongup has an unsure face as he ends his greeting. Kyungsoo and Daehyun stare at him, their minds trying to figure out what exactly Jongup is trying to say. Jongup feels a bit embarrassed, thinking he made wrong signs.

“AH!” Daehyun exclaims before signing to Jongup. [FUN, fs(FUN). FUN.] He demonstrates the correct sign for ‘fun’, and Jongup makes an embarrassed “oh” face. Daehyun turns slightly for Kyungsoo, explaining [HE TRY SIGN ‘HOW YOU-TWO DO’ ^(‘YOUR MORNING CLASS FUN’)^]  _ (Jongup was trying to say, “How are you two doing? Was your morning class fun?)  _ with the right facial expressions.

“Oh, I see,” Kyungsoo nods understandingly. 

“Ahh, that…” Jongup mutters to himself. He is slowly starting to pick up the signs, thanks to Daehyun’s lessons, sometimes he still get some of the signs mixed up. 

“Jongup-ah, you’re doing pretty well, to be honest. You just need some practice with Daehyun-hyung, it’s okay to struggle with getting the signs. Learning all the signs for the words does not happen overnight; it takes at least a year or so. But with Daehyun as your tutor, you’ll learn more and maybe even quicker, who knows?” Kyungsoo gives an encouraging smile at Jongup, and Jongup brightens.

“Let’s go eat lunch with the group, shall we? Is Himchan-hyung already there?” [COME, ^(JOIN GROUP EAT-NOON)^ “?” ^(fs<HIMCHAN><HYUNG> THERE FINISH)^ “?”] Kyungsoo voices and signs for Jongup and Daehyun. Jongup nods, and the trio heads to lunch.

On the way, Daehyun asks Jongup slowly {^(PARK YOU ME WALK LATER NIGHT)^}. Jongup tries to voice out what Daehyun is signing to him. Kyungsoo refrains from interpreting for Jongup because he knows beforehand from Daehyun that Jongup wants to challenge himself to interpret Daehyun’s signs on his own.

“P-a-r-k, you – I mean, I – with you…uh…feet? Walk! Okay, park, you and me, walk… uhh…el…llll…” Jongup blinks at Daehyun who is signing [LATER] slowly a few times. “Later! Oh wait what, uhm…hmmm….oh evening! Park, you and me, walk tonight, later…oh! I get it. ‘Wanna walk with me to the park later tonight?’ Wait let me sign this.” Jongup has his hands ready, bringing one of his hands up, with his index finger pointed up, the side pressed against his lips. He brings it out forward to sign [SURE].

Daehyun smiles and gives him a thumb up. Kyungsoo claps to give Jongup a morale boost, saying, “Good job!” Jongup laughs brightly and raises his fists, happy with himself.

Daehyun signs again, [YOU fs<HIMCHAN><HYUNG> COME fs<YONGGUK><HYUNG> PLACE. THEN YOU ME WALK ^(#OK)^] Jongup starts to feel overwhelmed with the letters but realizes the names after Daehyun respells the names of their hyungs. When he sees the familiar gesture from the previous sentence, he glows and mutters to himself, “Oh! I know that one! …I know that one!” Daehyun and Kyungsoo cannot help but feel giddy at the sight of Jongup being all excited about recognizing some signs and then being pensive when he tries to figure out what Daehyun was signing. When Jongup thinks it through, he answers with a nod.

Daehyun walks over to Jongup to pat his bottom, making Jongup flinch a bit and blush slightly. Daehyun just looks at Jongup with the eye smile of his, and Jongup feels himself being drawn to the eyes. When he realizes he has been staring into Daehyun’s eyes, he quickly averts his eyes and smiles weakly to himself, embarrassed at being caught. Kyungsoo can see how painfully obvious Jongup’s crush on Daehyun, and Daehyun is just easily luring him to spill the confession.

When the trio gets to the plaza and finds their group, they see that Himchan is there already. He is the first member to spot them and beckons Jongup to sit next to him. Seated to Himchan’s right are Yongguk and Jieun, with Youngjae and JB opposite Himchan. Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Joonmyeon, Jongin, Sehun and Luhan are seated on one side of the tables alongside Youngjae and JB. Sitting on the same side as Himchan, are Zitao and Jongdae with two empty seats. Yixing sits adjacently to Luhan and Jongdae. Jongup leads Kyungsoo and Daehyun to their empty seats as Jongup takes his seat next to Himchan, Daehyun sitting between Jongup and Kyungsoo.

There comes a point during lunch when Kyungsoo is talking with Daehyun and Jongin about their project, and Youngjae and JB have gone to get some other food. Jongup seizes the opportunity to ask Yongguk about the sign that he wants to use for tonight.

“Hyung”, Jongup whispers to Yongguk, as to not be rude interrupting his hyungs’ conversations, and also out of shyness. Yongguk looks at Jongup, raising his eyebrows in an expectant manner, waiting to hear why Jongup is whispering like so. Himchan looks at Jongup, concerned.

“How do you sign, ‘I want to get to know you more’?”

Himchan, Jieun and Yongguk look at each other before looking at Jongup.

“Wha- er…is there someone that you like, Jongup-ah?” Yongguk asks. Jongup blushes and gives a timid nod.

“Jonguppie,” Himchan ruffles Jongup’s hair as he smiles, “Yah, why didn’t I hear about this earlier?”

“Because we were busy helping you with your…” Jongup glances up at his hyung, “…notebook.” Himchan gets the message, remembering that he was freaking out about whether or not Yongguk read his notebook, and prays that the red-haired male has still not read it if the notebook topic is brought up again.

“Oh yeah, your notebook, I forgot you almost lost it. Luckily you got it back before the day ended. It was even more lucky we had connections to deliver it to you,” Yongguk says to Himchan, giving that gummy smile. Himchan makes a relieved face, hidden from Yongguk’s view. “Anyway here, Jonguppie-yah: [I WANT “US-TWO” KNOW MORE].” Yongguk signs slowly and makes sure Jongup signs it correctly, as Himchan watches both of them with impressed and admiring looks. Jieun spots Himchan’s behavior and smiles to herself before joining him in watching Yongguk tutor Jongup. Daehyun remains oblivious to the sign language tutoring behind his back as he continues to talk with Kyungsoo.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Later that evening, Daehyun is keeping Junhong company as Yongguk readies the house for the guests. Hana had been asked earlier in the day to go to studio to help some music students in rapping, so she would be coming home late. Youngjae is already over at JB’s house, having a sleepover, watching movies, and playing Starcraft. Daehyun and Junhong are playing rock-paper-scissors with a twist: If one loses each turn, they start the process of bending their joints after each turn, kneeling on one knee and then with the other, then crouch on the floor on their knees and one elbow, then with the other elbow, before they bow with their head.

Junhong is already on his knees and elbows while Daehyun is on his knees and on one elbow, looking playfully smug.  _ Victory will be mine once again,  _ Daehyun thinks to himself.

**_Knock knock…_ **

“Eegh!” Junhong groans, determined not to get up from the floor. He glances at Daehyun and is unsure how to tell him that there are people at the door without lifting his limbs. Still on all fours, he angles his arms and signs awkwardly. [PEOPLE KNOCK-ON-DOOR THERE. THINK fs<HIMCHAN><HYUNG> AND fs<JONGUP><HYUNG>]  _ (There are people at the door, I think it’s Himchan-hyung and Jongup-hyung.) _

**_KNOCK KNOCK…_ **

Daehyun feels a light vibration on the floor and looks around at the door, as Junhong winces a bit, when he hears the knock sounding a bit forceful. Daehyun nods in acknowledgement and shakes his head gleefully at Junhong’s plight. “Ahhh, hyung, I can’t get to the door!” Junhong whines.

“Eh? Why the hel-  _ yah _ .” Yongguk has just exited the hallway and is about to reach the door when he spots Daehyun and Junhong in awkward positions. “The hell are you two doing?!?” [v(YOU-TWO DO-DO)v] Yongguk has an intense expression on his face.

From where the duo is positioned on the floor, Junhong can see Yongguk and the door. With his eyes wide, he glances between Daehyun and Yongguk. “Uhh…we’re playing rock-paper-scissors with a twist. We learned it from a variety show, Sesame Player. This one group member invented this game, where the loser will have to bend one joint every time they lose, first the knees then the elbows before he or she bows his or her head, which ends the round.” Yongguk slowly walks to the door listening, as Junhong talks while signing with his hands in an awkward way because of his elbows on the floor. [US-TWO PLAY “ROCK-PAPER-SCISSOR” BUT LITTLE DIFFERENT. “TAKE-FROM” #TV SHOW, fs<GGAE-AL> fs(PLAYER). ONE MEMBER INVENT GAME, LOSER EACH TIME LOSE *Junhong imitates with his hand a person kneeling by one knee at a time, then points to his own elbows, and to his head* FINISH WHEN *He lightly shakes his head, refusing to bow just yet to Daehyun*] Daehyun’s eyes crinkle in amusement.

“Aish, you two,” Yongguk chuckles when he reaches the door, and opens it to see a casual-looking Himchan and a smiling Jongup. “Hey, you two. Good evening, come on in.” Himchan and Jongup thank him as they enter.

“Sorry it took me so long, Junhonggie could have gotten the door if it wasn’t for their silly game of rock-paper-scissors. Look,” Yongguk points to Junhong and Daehyun once the Moon brothers take off their shoes.

“KAI BAI BO!...YES!” The three of them watch as Junhong voices his small victory and Daehyun, while amused, gives a slight glare and bends his elbow, placing it on the floor. Now both of them are on all fours.

Himchan bursts out chuckling and Jongup looks confused. He goes over to Daehyun and Junhong, temporarily distracted by Daehyun on all fours, his butt stick up in the air.  _ Junhong and Daehyun are on all fours _ , he observes, _ but how is that related to the game? _ Jongup sits on the couch near the duo, watching as they stare hard at each other. For a moment, Jongup shivers when he studies Daehyun’s face, and thinks it really is breathtakingly handsome.

All of a sudden, Daehyun looks up at Jongup and waves to him with his elbows still planted on the ground. Jongup smiles a bit with curious eyes and makes a small wave before signing [DO-DO?].

Daehyun holds up a finger and looks back at Junhong. He wiggles his fingers, getting ready to face Junhong on their (hopefully) last round of rock-paper-scissor.

“KAI BAI BO!” Junhong shouts and the two of them show their weapons: Daehyun rock, Junhong scissors. Junhong looks like he is about to swear but he holds it in and accepts defeat as he bows his head. Daehyun sits up and pats Junhong’s back, smiling. Junhong pouts at him, “Why is it that I cannot beat you at the head part for the past 6 rounds??” [WHY END “BEAT-YOU” CANNOT ME PAST 6 GAME++? WHY?]

Jongup blinks at Daehyun, surprised at his unbeatable record. Daehyun chuckles lightly and shrugs. [PRACTICE PRACTICE]  _ (It’s all on practice),  _ he rubs his fist on his other almost-closed hand’s index finger. Junhong nods.

_ Wait, I feel like I know this one… _ Jongup thinks to himself as he stares at Daehyun’s hands. _ Is that ‘carrot’? no… _ , Jongup ponders before remembering. “Oh! Practice!”

Junhong suddenly looks at Jongup, a little confused at his hyung’s mini outburst. Daehyun follows Junhong’s gaze, for his eyes capture the slight, sudden movement of Jongup’s face. Jongup blushes, remembering his recent action, and he lowers his eyes, bowing his head.

“Yes, Jonguppie-hyung. Daehyun-hyung was saying ‘practice’. Whoa, have you been learning sign language, hyung?” Junhong asks, fascinated, momentarily forgetting to sign. Daehyun scoots on the floor to sit next to Jongup’s legs, cocking his head. He taps Jongup’s knee to get his attention. Jongup glances at Daehyun, and Daehyun signs, [v(WRONG)v]  _ (What’s wrong?) _ Jongup takes a deep breath and tries to sign, “I tried to…uhm…know, wait I mean…uhh…remember!...what you said before. ‘Practice’.” [I…TRY. KNOW. WAIT, OOPS. REMEMBER. WHAT YOU SAY BEFORE. PRACTICE.]

Daehyun makes an “oh” face, nodding, and he smiles. [ **PRACTICE** +. YOU DO WELL, LEARN FAST. I PROUD YOU] Jongup voices out as Daehyun signs slowly, “Practice, practice. Keep practicing. I do well, oh I’m doing well…learning fast. Okay, I’m doing well, and I learn fast. You…uh…hungry me? No…that’s hungry” – as Jongup makes the sign for ‘hungry’, and he repeats Daehyun’s sign for ‘proud’ – “OH PROU- sorry, proud… _ Oh. _ ”

Jongup looks directly in Daehyun’s eyes. “You’re proud of me?” [^(YOU PROUD ME)^] Daehyun nods. “O-oh…uhm. Thank you, hyung.” [THANK <HYUNG>] Daehyun lifts his hand to gently squeeze Jongup’s knee and uses it as leverage to stand up. [“WAIT-A-MOMENT”, WILL #BACK]  _ (Hold on, I’ll be back.) _

Jongup nods dumbly, and watches Daehyun as he turns around to enter the hallway. Junhong has been watching the whole thing with curious eyes before setting his eyes on Jongup.

“Jonguppie-hyung, are you blushing?”

“Me? What, no! I’m not blushing. What makes you think I’m blushing?” Jongup recoils in his seat, and lifts his hands to feel his face.  _ It’s warm, aw dangit, I’m blushing for real, _ Jongup thinks.

“Hyung, do you like him?”

Jongup’s eyes shift to Junhong and then to the hallway. “I…don’t know.”

“Well, I’ve always liked him, though.”

“Huh?” Jongup is startled at this new information, feeling ashamed.

“Daehyun-hyung and Youngjae-hyung are close friends of ours, JB-hyung too. JR-goon is my friend, and so the hyungs would come to our place and hang out. At first when I met Daehyun-hyung, I didn’t know how to sign either. I only knew alphabets. Yongguk-hyung knew sign language because he took it up at his middle school. Later, Yongguk-hyung, Youngjae-hyung and Daehyun-hyung taught me how to sign too. It’s really fun and worth learning! Daehyun’s funny, too, but Youngjae’s funnier. Though Youngjae can be direct, Daehyun’s really cool. You’ll get to like him, I’m sure. I know I did.”

“O-oh, okay,” Jongup internally lets out a sigh of relief, understanding what Junhong meant by ‘liking’ Daehyun. Junhong does not like Daehyun in the romantic way, but as a friend. “Yeah, no I do like him. He is fun and patient.”

“I thought you just said you didn’t kn-“

“Hahaha, don’t worry about what I said. It was just out of the blue, Junhong-ah.”

“Ookayy…hyung.”

Daehyun enters just in time wearing a jacket and has Jongup’s jacket in hand. He looks at Jongup expectantly, as he seems ready to go. [^(READY US-TWO LEAVE)^ “?”] “Rea’y o’out?”

Jongup blinks, digesting the information for a couple seconds before realizing what Daehyun was saying. “…Oh, yeah I’m ready! Whoops, I mean…” Jongup agrees but forgets to sign, so he hastily brings his hands up when a grinning Daehyun stops him, signaling with a nod and a beckoning gesture.

Daehyun then turns to Junhong as Jongup stands up. [I FINISH  INFORM-OTHER YOUR-TWO <HYUNG> US-TWO “GO-OUT”. YOUR <HYUNG> WANT TALK WITH YOU, THINK NEED HELP. ^( #OK “THUMB-UP” )^]  _ (I’ve already told Yongguk-hyung and Himchan-hyung that Jongup and I are leaving for the park. Yongguk-hyung wants to talk to you, needs your help on something. You good?) _

Junhong nods as Jongup stares at Daehyun, dazed at the faster pace of hand movements. Daehyun signs [HERE, PUT-ON-YOU ME.] He signs the last line to Jongup, who snaps himself out of his daze, before putting on Jongup’s jacket on him. [ #OK , US-TWO GO NOW. “SEE-LATER”! *Daehyun maintains his cheerful expression*]  _ (Here, let me put this on you. Alright, we’re leaving. See you later!) _

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

**_The sun has set, the sky is darkening and people are strolling around…_ **

**_Sounds of chatter and of dogs barking…_ **

**_People passing by, looking at the intertwined arms, and assuming the hands are intertwined in the jacket pocket of one dirty blond haired guy…_ **

“Ahh, it’s a bit chilly,” Jongup gives an involuntary shudder as he mutters to himself, despite wearing his jacket and one of his hands being held by Daehyun and warmed up in Daehyun’s jacket pocket. “But it’s nice.” He feels a gentle squeeze on his hand, and looks to his left.

Daehyun crinkles his eyebrows, asking  _ What are you thinking? _ . Jongup smiles and shakes his head, “It’s nothing~”. Daehyun reads Jongup’s lips and slowly nods, pondering if he should accept that answer, before he grazes tenderly Jongup’s hand with his thumb.

_ Oh whoa… _ Jongup blinks at Daehyun before looking down at Daehyun’s pocket, where he feels his hand being caressed, before slowly peeking up at him and quickly averting his eyes.  _ Don’t blush,  _ he chants to himself in his head. Smiling, Daehyun looks away but continues to thumb-stroke Jongup’s hand as they walk along one of the many paths in the park.

The duo settles near a bench, and they both sigh deeply. Jongup feels awkward trying to sit down with their hands still intertwined and he timidly releases his grip on Daehyun’s hand. Daehyun seems to think likewise, and lets go of Jongup’s hand before they finally sit down. Jongup, however, sits down a little further from Daehyun, with about a foot from Daehyun. Daehyun is slightly surprised but does not do anything; instead he looks up and watches the twinkling stars. One of Jongup’s leg bounces on the ball of his foot, and Jongup feels nervous about the closure he and Daehyun are having.

_ How many weeks has it been since I first saw him? More than a couple of weeks…  _ Jongup thinks to himself.  _ Is this going too fast? I don’t know. Do I like him? Maybe more than a friend…Thinking back on the day when we first introduced each other, that was all too sudden for me, and why did I not back away? I was too …I don’t know what to call it. _

Lost in thought, Jongup does not notice how Daehyun is already looking at him and shuffling a bit closer, resting his hand on Jongup’s thigh to stop the twitching. He starts at the contact, looking suddenly at Daehyun, and stops twitching. His breath begins to quicken at the  _ really  _ close distance between the two of them. Daehyun has this look of puzzlement, [v(“WHAT’S-UP”)v ^(SOMETHING “IN-YOUR-MIND”)^]

Jongup closes his eyes and tries to remember what Yongguk taught him earlier that day. He opens his eyes and stares at Daehyun with an air of confidence. [I…I LIKE YOU, BUT I…WANT…”US-TWO” KNOW MORE. NOT TEACHER STUDENT, MORE…FRIENDS. MORE MORE FRIENDS.]  _ (I like you, but I want to get to know you better, not in a tutor-tutee relationship, but more like friends. More more friends.) _

Daehyun furrows his brows in concentration at the last line. “Moar den frez?” [MORE…THAN…FRIENDS?]  _ (More than friends?)  _ Jongup stares at him and guesses, “Uhm…sure. More like friends, I guess?”

_ Oh god, that was a really bad timing for me to sign that, _ Jongup thinks to himself, wishing he had not signed what he wanted to tell Daehyun.

Daehyun shakes his head with an air of patience after reading Jongup’s lips, “Den. Dan…Than. You sign ‘moar moar frez’...moar...than...frenz?”

“Oh! More than…more than friends? Er…uhm… I…I meant… Well, I want us to be friends before we become   intima…” Jongup squeaks. [I…I WANT US-TWO GOOD FRIEND… NEXT, MAYBE *Jongup realizes he doesn’t know the sign for “intimate” fs(INTIMATE)] 

Daehyun teaches him the sign. [INTIMATE]

“Yeah...that. Before we become really close.” [YES, THAT. INTIMATE. NEXT, MAYBE INTIMATE]

Daehyun looks to the side, and back at Jongup. [sh(NOT UNDERSTAND) THINK GOOD-FRIEND ALREADY]  _ (But I don’t understand, I thought we were already friends.) _

“O-oh, are we?” Jongup blushes. “Never mind, never mind, forget I said anything.” He bats the air away in front of him and feels like he wants to shrink and crawl up in a hole. He feels a hand on his shoulder, and he refuses to look at Daehyun. His heart quickens when he feels Daehyun’s hand cupping his chin and making him look at Daehyun in the eyes.

[WATCH-ME. TAKE-UP TIME, ^( THINK. )^ ^(YOU WANT US FRIEND?)^ nh(FINE. NO PROBLEM.) YOU SAY sh(NOT WANT US-TWO TEACHER STUDENT.) nh(CLOSE-FRIEND, YOU WANT.) THIS *He briefly holds Jongup’s hand before letting go* FINE. YOUR PROGRESS DISTANCE, ME RESPECT WILL ME]  _ (Jongup-ah, look at me. Take your time to figure out yourself, there’s no rush. You want us to be friends? That’s fine with me, not a problem. You said you don’t want us to have a tutor-tutee relationship, but rather a good, close friendship. What we’re doing right now, is completely natural and fine. How you want us to go down the road, and see where we are with our friendship, I’ll respect your decision.) _

Jongup misinterprets the last line to be  _ I will respect your decision and will stay away from you, _ as if Jongup told him to go away. “N-no no that’s not what I meant!” Jongup stammers, giving up on signing because he is too deep into his state of confusion and panic. Daehyun looks befuddled, slightly taken aback.

“I just…I…I don’t want to stop being around you. I mean, no, agh, I don’t know, hyung, just…can you stick with me while I’ll try to figure out with myself about this? I don’t want to lose you, hyung… I feel like an idiot because you have to take your time signing with me, and with others you sign so fluidly… I want to get better at this, but it feels like such a long road. I don’t want to give up on this, and I hope you won’t give up on me…” Jongup tries to sign, but he does not know how to express how he wants to sign at the moment because he is slowly overwhelmed and feeling ashamed, as his eyes are about to tear up. Daehyun looks confused because Jongup does not sign at that time and he was mumbling, but seeing the desperate look on Jongup’s face, he scoots closer to give him a hug, and he feels Jongup holding him tightly as if he does not want to let Daehyun go. Daehyun shrugs off the awkwardness, him holding Jongup from the side while sitting on the bench, as people walk by them, thinking that they are breaking up or the poor kid just needs someone to hug.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

“KYUNGSOO-YAH! BAEKHYUN-AH! LET’S GO!!”

Kyungsoo has just come out of his bedroom, all ready to go, when he points out to his brother, Jonghyun that Baekhyun is not yet done.

“Hyung, Baekhyun’s the one taking a while getting ready!”

**_Sound of feet pattering across the apartment floor from Jonghyun’s bedroom…_ **

**_Rapid knocks on the bathroom door…_ **

“Baekhyun-ah, what are you doing right now?! We need to get going! Kibum, my  _ punctual _ boyfriend in case you’ve forgotten, is expecting us in like ten minutes from now, and the drive to get there takes fifteen minutes! I just saw you dressed up like five minutes ago. I didn’t even hear a toilet flush or anything. What could you  _ possibly _ need to get ready with at the  _ last minute _ ?!”

“AAGH! MY EYES, DAMMIT!” Baekhyun screams at Jonghyun. Jonghyun’s eyes widen, alarmed at the strained voice from Baekhyun.

“WAIT, WHAT,” Jonghyun raps his fist on the door, feeling a bit panicked. “WHAT HAPPENED, BAEKHYUN-AH? ARE YOU OKAY?”

“I’M FINE; IT’S JUST THAT I’M PUTTING ON EYELINER AT THE MOMENT.”

Kyungsoo hears a solid thud and then another thud, as Jonghyun plants his head on the door and then turns around to lean back on it.

“BAEKHYUN-AH. YOU CAN JUST DO IT IN THE CAR. WE GOTTA GO! OUR NOONAS ALREADY LEFT.”

“NO, HYUNG. THE RIDE’S TOO BUMPY FOR ME TO DRAW NEAT LINES AROUND MY EYES.”

Kyungsoo slowly enters Jonghyun’s bedroom to see his brother facing the door with a scandalized look on his face, pointing with his finger at the door, as if the door had mocked at him about his height.

“ _ Park Baekhyun, you listen to me right now. Get out of there this instant or I will knock this door down and drag you out without a care about your eyeliner,”  _ Jonghyun warns.

“Hyunnggg~ I’m almost done! Just give me a few seco-“

“ONE.”

“WHAT, ARE YOU SERI-” Scrambling and a clutter is heard from the bathroom.

“TWO.”

“OKAY,  _ FINE _ .” And Baekhyun opens the door, and the brothers see Baekhyun looking all the same, except his eyeliner surprisingly looks well pulled off, given Jonghyun’s threats and time constraint.

Baekhyun stares hard at his brother before averting his eyes to the ground; he does not want to put up a fight. Jonghyun shakes his head, almost in disbelief.

“Sheesh, all that for eyeliners. Although, you actually look really good. But I don’t see what’s the point of wearing them,” Jonghyun mutters to himself as he walks out of his bedroom in a brisk manner.

Baekhyun blinks as he is caught off guard by his brother’s compliment. He frowns at his brother’s retreating back, and suddenly makes eye contact with Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo nervously smiles at him before nodding his head in Jonghyun’s direction.

[^(GO)^]  _ (Shall we go?) _

Baekhyun gives a small smile before checking around his body for his wallet and cell phone. Once he has them, he nods at his younger twin, and the two of them follow Jonghyun out their apartment.

\- - -

Twenty minutes later, the Park brothers arrive to Chakeo Corner after Jonghyun has found a parking space in one of the many underground downtown parking substructures. They are met with an annoyed young man who has feline-like eyes and sharp cheekbones, a playful male couple and a chatty female couple, each pair having one member that almost seem androgynous, with the male having a ponytail and a female having short hair. The annoyed man is tapping his foot on the ground as he immediately spots Jonghyun and his brothers walking his way.

“YAH.  _ Jonghyunnie-hyung _ . Why are you late?”

“Sorry, Kibum-ah, traffic was bad getting here. It’s a Friday night, after all. I didn’t plan properly ahead of time. It’s my fault.” Jonghyun glances at Baekhyun.

“ _ Traffic _ ? Yah…Park Jonghyun. Traffic at  _ 6PM _ ? Traffic usually happens around 4 or 8PM, never 6PM. I was on the phone with you twenty-five minutes ago, and you said you were already ready to go! What could have  _ possibly _ been keeping  _ you _ this  _ late _ !?”

Baekhyun winces as he hears Kibum’s shrill voice ringing out in the less noisy street of Changgyeonggung-ro. The quartet behind Kibum is watching the lovers’ quarrel with wide eyes and hushed looks. The androgynous female sees Baekhyun and Kyungsoo and waves at them. Having returned the greeting, Kyungsoo nudges Baekhyun to join the pairs.

“My name’s Zhang Amber,” the girl introduces herself as Kyungsoo and Baekhyun draw near, unbothered by Baekhyun’s actions to fingerspell her name to Kyungsoo. “This is my girlfriend, Kim Soojung.” The pretty girl with wavy hair stares a bit longer at the twins with interest, before she realizes they are all looking at her. Hastily, she lifts her hand to wave her fingers with a shy smile. The twins introduce themselves before the male couple moves over a bit slightly to join the co-ed quartet.

“My name’s Kim Taemin, and this is my boyfriend, Choi Minho. Soojung-ah and I are Kibum’s siblings. I’m sure you’ve already met our brothers, Jongin and Sehun.” Taemin is smiling and Minho is hugging Taemin around the waist, standing behind him as he rests his chin on Taemin’s shoulder.

“Yeah, we did, and it was quite an interesting first meeting,” Baekhyun glances at Kyungsoo with a small smirk, still in simultaneous communication. “Do you guys go to our campus?”

“Ah, no,” Amber speaks up. “Soojung and I still go to high school, but I’m in my last year; and Taemin-hyung and Minho-hyung go to different colleges, majoring in dance and filmography, respectively.”

“…Hyung? But…aren’t you a girl? I’m sorry, but shouldn’t it be ‘oppa’?” Baekhyun wonders out loud.

Amber, Taemin, Minho and Soojung chuckle and nod, leaving the Park twins bewildered at their reactions.

“I could call them oppa, but sometimes the guys feel it strange that I’m calling them oppa when I give them an appearance of a guy. So they said I was free to call them hyung.”

“Ah…wow. Isn’t it strange for you?” Kyungsoo asks.

“Nah,” Amber replies. “Since I came from a Chinese background, our honorifics for siblings are gender-neutral. It’s the same honorifics for both younger males and females to an older male sibling or a female sibling, and vice versa. You’ve met Luhan-ge and Yixing-ge, yeah?”

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo nod.

“Yixing and I call Luhan ‘Luhan-ge’ or ‘gege’, regardless of me and Yixing being different genders. They call me ‘meimei’. There’s no certain honorifics defined by gender, only by generations.”

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo nod once again, understanding what Amber is explaining to them. They all turn their focus to the lovers’ quarrel.

“I got lost and distracted with things in my mind.”

“Tsch, you got  _ lost _ ? That’s a lame excuse. You’ve been coming here for the past seven months. I think that clearly debunks your excuse for getting lost.”

Jonghyun nervously looks over to the six younger members before he grabs Kibum’s wrist and pulls him closer to whisper in his boyfriend’s ear. Kibum suddenly reaches out a hand to hold onto Jonghyun’s shoulder to hinder physical collision, though their bodies are close enough to only have a thin film of space between them.

“I got lost searching for you, and I’ve been distracted with the thought of you and the memories of our…sleepovers. Kibum-ah, I’ll make it up to you after tonight, ok? Come to my place. I’ll make my brothers sleepover at their friends’ place.”

Kibum’s eyes widen before he blushes at the way Jonghyun is whispering, against the area where his ear and jaw line connects, the lines of cheesy seduction and promises of make-up sex. He looks over to Minho, Taemin, Baekhyun, Amber, Kyungsoo and Soojung before giggling and nodding. He feels Jonghyun’s hands lowering to grip the sides of his waist, and then the two of them start to sway side-to-side. Realizing where he is with Jonghyun, Kibum pulls away slightly to slap Jonghyun lightly on the chest.

“Yah, Jonghyunnie. Would you stop that, we’re in the middle of a public area. Our dongsaengs are right behind you. Aish!” Kibum ends with a playful tone, and Jonghyun can only smile at him with the expression of an excited puppy. “Let’s just go in and get ourselves ready, you’re the DJ host tonight and I gotta get into the kitchen to start up some appetizers and entrees.”

Kibum lightly shoves Jonghyun away with a foxy smile before he looks at the dongsaengs, their faces showing mixtures of amused and slightly judging looks. His face drops.

“What.”

The six dongsaengs shake their heads, looking sideways and murmuring “nothing”s, acting as if the whole thing between Kibum and Jonghyun did not happen in front of them.

“Oh, Kyungsoo-yah, Baekhyun-ah. Miyoung-noona and Taeyeon-noona are already inside waiting for you guys. They’re with Hyojung and Bora-noona,” Kibum informs the group. “Amber-yah, Soojung-ah, go ahead inside; Qian-noona is in there with Jinri and Zitao. Jongin and Sehun should be on their way soon…I think Yixing had to get something he had forgotten back at the house, but Luhan’s driving so…I don’t know when the others will be here.”

The group nods and enters the café without a word. Kibum turns to face Jonghyun and adds in one more memo, “Jinki-hyung already came here with Hyojung and Bora-noona, because the girls are gonna perform their own composition tonight, just a heads up.”

Jonghyun nods with an “Ok”. He holds Kibum’s hand and leads him into the café.


	19. A Night at the Cafe!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be MORE characters from other bands, some OCs (Other Characters) as well as one of them having a gender-neutral pronoun.
> 
> I get so nostalgic with those songs, especially SISTAR's. T_T; I always loved both Infinite and SISTAR because of their styles; they're among my top few favorites.

Chakeo Corner is a pretty spacious café, co-owned by Lee Jinki and Yoon Doojoon; Kibum’s uncle personally designed it. It was an offer that Jinki could not refuse because the uncle offered himself to be the architect of the restaurant, due to the close friendship that Kibum and Jinki shared, and the impressions that Jinki had left on Kibum’s family during their high school years. While Doojoon may be an interpreter at the nearby campus where Kyungsoo attends, he still has a second responsibility: handling maintenances at the café. Both Jinki and Doojoon have agreed to let Jinki take over the café as the head manager, supervising the whole operations of the café. However, Jinki and Doojoon have groups of friends that also are taking over in some departments of the café. Kim Kibum and Yong Junhyung are head chefs, while Jang Hyunseung is sous-chef; they also have a few other chefs who are interning or working part-time with them. Yang Yoseob is in charge of the cashier and customer services while Kim Taemin works under him, they are the only two people that work in the cashier area. Choi Minho, Son Dongwoon and Lee Kikwang are head waiters, along with a few others, some who have had experiences of waiting on customers in the past and some who are fairly new.

When one enters the café through the double doors, they face the cashier area with the kitchen double doors behind it, a glass-covered display of pastries and cakes, and a huge blackboard of written menus and discount deals. To the right side of the cashier and the display glass, there is a mini hallway that leads to the restrooms, with the male restroom further down, and a female restroom nearby.

The café has two major sections in terms of seating: a minor section for quick meals or just a casual lunch date between two friends, and then a major section for dining pleasures and social gatherings. The minor section has small tables and two to four chairs surrounding the tables. The major section has a stage on the far left corner side of the café, with the DJ Booth in the back corner of the stage; there are cushioned seats near the front wall with windows above them, as well as bigger tables with four or more chairs surrounding each of the many tables. Also onstage Jinki’s office, is located next to the DJ booth; across the stage from Jinki’s office is the backstage area for stage equipments and changing rooms.

The lighting in the café changes throughout the day, to create a appropriate nice ambience during certain times. The lights do not get too bright nor too dim to make the diners feel comfortable and sociable. Even the waiters and waitresses socialize with the diners, making sure everything is well accommodated.

Just like the lights, the music is also playing throughout the café. During the day, songs from popular and old-time classic solo artists are played to suit the coffee/tea dates. When the night comes on, the café appeals more to a variety of audiences. The café will play top hits from the modern age, of boy groups and girl groups, aspiring artists, and foreign artists from China, Spain, America and England.

On certain Friday nights, Jinki holds stage performances from frequent bands and new bands. He lets them sign up to perform for gigs or for fun, as long as they can show up and deliver performances that appeal to the audiences. So far, there has not been a single band that has been turned away from the café due to the audience’s dissatisfaction. A mellow rock band quartet named CNBlue, a harmonious male duo called InVinite, and a duo called SISTAR19, made up of Jinki’s two sisters, are among the few regulars of Chakeo Corner.

Kyungsoo and Baekhyun are seated at a table with Zitao, having already greeted their sisters and Hyojung and Bora at another table, and are just catching up on the past few days and talking about what is to happen for the next few days. Taemin and Minho have already gone into their café mode, dressed up in their cashier and waiter attire, respectively. Amber and Soojung have joined Qian and Jinri, waiting for Sunyoung to arrive.

Qian, Jinri, Soojung, and Amber are seated at another table, slightly further from the smaller group of guys. Hyojung and Bora are seated with Miyoung, Taeyeon and Hyoyeon. Jinki is taking care of the café shop from his office, often coming out to check on his regular and new customers. Doojoon is working as the chef manager for the time being, watching over Kibum, Junhyung, Hyunseung and several other chefs.

**_“Neo nan ara~ Neo nan ara~”_ **

**_(I know you~ I know you~)_ **

“BAEKKIE-YAH!”

Baekhyun gives a jolt at the sudden outburst of his name, looking around. Kyungsoo quickly whips his head around to the source of the deep voice rumbling throughout the café. A few heads are turning as well to focus on a certain tall person with bronze hair straightened down and an energetic smile pasted on his face, walking towards Baekhyun and Kyungsoo with his long limbs clumsily knocking past chairs and tables. The mutters of “oh, sorry, sir”s and “excuse me, ma’am”s can be heard from Chanyeol as Joonmyeon graciously follows behind him. When they arrive at Kyungsoo and Baekhyun’s table, Kyungsoo meekly waves at Joonmyeon with a smile, and Joonmyeon gives a little bow to Kyungsoo, as if he was a prince.

“Ah, Chanyeollie-yah~,” Baekhyun stands up to hug his boyfriend, wearing the sweetest smile that reminds Kyungsoo of a content Golden Retriever puppy. “I missed you!”

“Baekhyun-hyung, you guys just saw them two hours ago. You still missed him in that two-hour gap of not seeing each other??”

Kyungsoo hears Sehun’s lispy voice come up behind Joonmyeon and the quartet turns to see a poker-faced Sehun, and amused Jongin and Luhan standing around. Luhan giggles and smiles at Sehun, “Yah, be mindful of your hyungs, Sehun-ah.” Yixing finally arrives with Jongdae, having to guide Jongdae through any spacious gaps to get to the group. The group welcomes them warmly and Jongdae smiles with a wave of his hand, allowing himself to be hugged by some friends. While Jongdae receives some hugs, Yixing greets the quartet with a dimpled smile, hugging with his free arm since his arm is linked with Jongdae. Zitao walks over to join Yixing and Jongdae as Jongin walks up to Joonmyeon and Kyungsoo. Jongin leans on the back of the chair, looking at Kyungsoo and Joonmyeon.

“Hi, hyungs! What time did you guys get here?”

Kyungsoo replies, “Oh, Baekhyun and I got here about 10 minutes ago; Joonmyeon and Chanyeol just got here a few minutes ago.”

Yixing calls to Zitao, informing that Jongdae’s sister is with their sisters, Qian and the girls, sitting at a table next to a table of four girls who are quite lively and silly.

“Ahh…that would be our sisters” – Baekhyun points between himself and Kyungsoo – “and Chanyeol’s sisters,” Baekhyun sighs with a tone of amusement in his voice. “Our sisters are Miyoung and Taeyeon, while Chanyeol’s are Hyojung and Bora. They’re quite friendly, just very… _ too _ friendly.” Yixing chuckles.

“Shall we all sit down?” Luhan addresses to the whole group, and they all nod. They cooperate to gather the tables together to seat twelve people, as Jongdae announces that his brothers will be joining them later. Jongdae does not see the smile that graces on Zitao’s face, hidden from everyone’s sights.

\- - -

Once the waiters have come by and taken their drink orders, the group splits into small groups as they talk about different topics, almost into the same groups as they usually are during lunch hours on campus. Minus the company of Yongguk and his friends like at college, they still take up a quarter of the space in the major section of the café. They are still waiting for Yifan and Minseok to arrive before they can eat dinner and enjoy the performances, but they have their drinks to wait for at the moment.

Kyungsoo sees Jongin joining him, Joonmyeon, Chanyeol and Baekhyun in one table, and Sehun joining with Luhan, Zitao, Yixing and Jongdae. He then talks about his classes and the incident that happened today in their apartment, as Joonmyeon watches on with genuine interest and a soft smile on his face as a reaction to Baekhyun’s response to Jonghyun’s threat.

Chanyeol turns to face Baekhyun and pokes lightly at Baekhyun’s nose with a smile, receiving a confused look and a pout from his boyfriend.

“What was that for?” Chanyeol shakes his head and smiles.

“You’re quite obsessed with that eyeliner, and I have seen you without it sometimes at school or in public, particularly during the daytimes. In the nights that we go out, you have it on. Your brother’s right; you do look great, but even so, you have such endearing eyes, Baekkie, don’t deny yourself from that.” Chanyeol takes ahold of Baekhyun’s hands and lifts them to brush his lips against Baekhyun’s knuckles.

**_“Nan niga jeil joha~ niga jeil yeppeo~”_ **

**_(I like you the best, you’re the prettiest)_ **

Baekhyun blushes at both the compliment and the gesture, and Kyungsoo can only roll his eyes in amusement and smiles at the couple. There is a small commotion of cheers and awed reactions somewhere near the entrance of the café and Kyungsoo cranes his neck to see what is going on. He can only make out two people dancing in the middle of a circled crowd and he is amused at the sight of two people dancing in the middle of the café.

Luhan, Sehun, Joonmyeon and Jongin watch Baekhyun and Chanyeol with amused expressions. Jongdae, Yixing and Zitao are in their own world as Jongdae teaches Yixing, with Zitao’s help, some of the alphabets that he learned from Kyungsoo and Daehyun. Zitao fingerspells to Yixing as Yixing attempts to imitate the same hand poses, with his hand blanketed under Jongdae’s palm. Jongdae had explained to Yixing that this method of fingerspelling under his hand is an effective way for Jongdae to read the Deaf language.

“Kyungsoo-hyung, can I ask you something?”

Kyungsoo’s ears perk up at Jongin’s murmurings audible only for him and Joonmyeon, and he looks at Jongin, who is staring at Zitao, Yixing, and Jongdae before turning to face him.

“What is it, Jongin-ah?”

“Can…you teach me the alphabets?” Jongin traces swirling lines with one of his fingers on the table surface as he shoots a tentative glance to Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo smiles and replies, “Sure, Jongin-ah. I can teach you some right now, if you’d like.”

“Really? Cool!” Jongin smiles as he readies his hands and then, all of a sudden, a waiter swoops in quickly to attack Jongin’s sides with his hands, tickling him mercilessly. It startles Jongin as he yelps a bit too loud before giving in to laughter and recoiling jerkily. Kyungsoo and Joonmyeon jump a bit at the sudden invasion and reaction, while the others whips their heads around to see what was going on. Jongin is left gasping and scowling at the waiter. “Hyunngg, what was that for?”

This waiter has a slightly muscular but lean build and medium length of platinum blond hair, with a face that resembles a Western look; anyone would have mistaken him for a foreigner. Son Dongwoon smirks before ruffling Jongin’s hair, “Sorry kiddo. Kibum told me to do it. Hey, Joonmyeon-ah.” Dongwoon nods to Joonmyeon as Jongin shamelessly whines at the waiter.

“Hyuunngg~ Why did Kibum-hyung tell you to do it? You could have  _ not _ done it…”

“You’re right, I could’ve, but Kibum suspects there’s something going on between you and someone named Kyungsoo.” Dongwoon shrugs at the name, despite the smirk on his face, relishing on the fact that Jongin is losing his cool façade. Kyungsoo looks up at him, perplexed. Joonmyeon is watching the whole scene with interest, yet keeping a calm posture.

“Wha…who told you? Wait, who told him? I didn’t even mention Kyungsoo-hyung to Kibum-hyung.” Jongin glances at his friend from across the table.

“Jonghyun-hyung did.”

“YOUR BROTHER?!”

“MY BROTHER?!” Kyungsoo squawks as his eyes widen at the revelation and even more at the coincidence that both he and Jongin exclaimed at the same time.

Dongwoon looks between Kyungsoo and Jongin. “Yeah…wait, are you Kyungsoo? You’re Jonghyun’s younger brother?”

Kyungsoo nods, his eyes still wide, as if he was caught guilty mid-action of doing something wrong. Dongwoon makes a silent “oh” and smiles at him, with a slight bow of his head, “Sorry about that. We have not met before, though I’ve heard your name and your twin’s name a few times in passing from your brother. Even so, I seldom meet with Jonghyun-hyung, because I’m more of Kibum’s friend than Jonghyun-hyung’s. But none of that matters right now; anyway, my name is Son Dongwoon.” He flashes a smile.

Kyungsoo returns the smile, feeling a hospitable charm emitting from Dongwoon as he introduces himself.

“Well, then Kyungsoo-yah, call me Dongwoon-hyung, if you like. In the meantime, all of your drinks are coming up soon; it’s the mango passionfruit tea for you, Kyungsoo, correct?” Kyungsoo nods. “I think Kiki-hyung is coming around with that – his name is Lee Kikwang; he’s a year older than me. Joonmyeon-ah, your Americano is coming up with Minho. Minho’s taking the coffees while Kikwang’s taking the teas. I’m just taking the iced drinks tonight. I’ll see you guys around! Later, kiddo.” With that, he ruffles Jongin’s hair once again, and Jongin hurries to fix his hair with a glare at Dongwoon’s back as Dongwoon goes to retrieve the others’ orders.

“Still wanna learn the alphabets, Jonginnie-yah?”

“Hm? Ah, yeah, I almost forgot about that. Ready when you are.”

Minutes pass as Kyungsoo teaches Jongin the Korean alphabet, with Joonmyeon participating as an assistant. Kyungsoo uses Joonmyeon’s hand to show Jongin how the consonant or vowel is connected to the sign. Once they have covered the Korean alphabet, they are about to move on to the American alphabet when two waiters arrive to deliver the drinks to the group.

Kyungsoo sees that one of the waiters to be of a short build, though his muscles makes up for his height, and the eyesmile.  _ Wow, that eyesmile is really something…it makes him look endearing, actually,  _ Kyungsoo thinks to himself. And finally, he notices the lips, the thick lips that make Kyungsoo raise his eyebrows a bit skeptically.  _ Is it even possible to have lips that thick? _

“Hello, I’m Lee Kikwang, one of your waiters in the café tonight! Welcome to Chakeo Corner! What’s your name, kid?” The said waiter still has his eyesmile on as he gives an airy chuckle, introducing himself and welcoming Kyungsoo. He places the mango passionfruit tea in front of Kyungsoo and also puts down a straw.

“U-uh, Kyungsoo. I mean, Park Kyungsoo. Dongwoon-hyung briefly told me about you.”

“Oh, did he now? I hope he didn’t tell too much about me.”

“Eh? Uh…Dongwoon-hyung just said that you would be delivering teas and that you’re his hyung, and thus, you’re also older than me.”

“O-oh, hahaha, alright then. Yeah, just call me Kikwang-hyung. There’s no need for formal honorifics with one another in this café, well…I mean, not that I’m saying we can all use informal language. Still have to respect people around here.” Kikwang chuckles.

Kyungsoo politely nods with a smile.

Just then, a whining yelp comes from across Kyungsoo, grabbing some people’s attentions including Kyungsoo himself. Jongin scowls for the third time at another waiter, whom Kyungsoo recognizes as Minho from earlier.

“Jonginnie-yah, you’re finally here!” Minho chuckles, patting Jongin’s hair after ruffling it, as Jongin looks helplessly at his hair. “Aigoo, this kid. What took you guys so long to get here? Anyway, it looks like you and Sehun-ah are indeed the maknaes of the whole group, and you don’t even look young. Compared to Kyungsoo-yah, he looks younger than you, kiddo.” Minho places Jongin’s order of caramel cappuccino in front of Jongin and places down a stirring stick.

Kyungsoo senses Jongin looking at him, and he can only react with a slight upturn of his lips and his brow furrowing upward, looking hesitant with a soft smile. Jongin looks at Kyungsoo in despair. Kikwang chuckles and agrees, nodding his head. “That he does, that he does.”

“And here you are, Joonmyeon-goon, your Americano.”

“Thanks, Minho-yah.” Joonmyeon smiles at said waiter and Minho returns it. Kikwang and Minho then take their leave.

Kyungsoo looks over to check on Zitao and Jongdae, before he jolts slightly in his seat. Zitao and Yixing are looking in his direction since the waiters were having a conversation with him, Joonmyeon, and Jongin. Zitao shoots a smile at him and beckons him to come over to their table. Kyungsoo points at himself with eyebrows raised, and Zitao nods, his finger sweeping in the air to include Jongin and Joonmyeon as well. Kyungsoo looks at Jongin and Joonmyeon before inviting them to join him at Zitao’s table. Joonmyeon politely declines whereas Jongin accepts, calling to Sehun to switch seats with him. Kyungsoo chuckles at Jongin’s excitement to see another interaction between him, Jongdae and Zitao.

Luhan and Sehun take their drinks to move and join Joonmyeon, Chanyeol and Baekhyun as Jongin and Kyungsoo, with their own drinks, take their spots. Baekhyun and Chanyeol are still seated in their table.

Jongdae, Jongin, Kyungsoo, Yixing, and Zitao are seated together in one table, as Zitao reviews with Jongdae and Kyungsoo Morse code, tapping on the others’ palms. Every now and then, Zitao would demonstrate the Morse code and then spell in ASL and KSL, in that order, for Jongdae to understand what exactly Zitao was saying. Yixing and Jongin watch with looks of contentment and interest, respectively, Jongin subconsciously tapping the table as he tries to imitate what Zitao is doing.

\- - -

Yifan and Minseok finally arrive to the café a bit later, and Zitao happens to look their way. When he makes eye contact with Yifan, Yifan smiles and salutes to him with two fingers as he and Minseok arrive at the big group’s tables. Zitao blushes and focuses on spelling and signing.

“Yah, that guy over there. Zitao seems to be acting funny with him. Is there something going on that I should know?” Qian asks her younger friends. Soojung and Amber shrug, but Jinri and Sunyoung crane their necks to see Yifan trying to get Zitao’s attention and Zitao sneaking glances at Yifan.

“If you ask me, it looks like Zitao-ge has a crush on Yifan-ge.” Amber observes.

“Yifan? Is that his name? Huh, that’s a nice name…Yifan. He sure looks like a god,” Qian comments.

It is only when Yifan and Minseok take to their seats that Kikwang, Dongwoon, and two more waiters come by to take the orders of nineteen people; Kyungsoo and his group, Qian and her group, and the Park and Lee sisters. Minho had gone somewhere to another party to take their orders.

Once the group has ordered their meals, Kyungsoo goes back to teaching Zitao some more signing phrases upon Zitao’s suggestions, and Jongin and Yixing join in to learn.

“So wait, this is ‘How are you?’ but I can say ‘How are you all?’ too? Or this one also?” [HOW YOU, BUT HOW YOU++? *Jongin’s pointer hand does a scanning motion* HOW #ALL YOU++ *He repeats the previous gesture*] Jongin asks Kyungsoo for clarification.

“Mhm, sign language is usually flexible with structure, as long as you get your point across and you have emphasize the focus of the sentence,” Kyungsoo explains, nodding. “There’s also the facial expressions… You should work on your eyebrow muscles.” He chuckles, watching Jongin waggling and furrowing his eyebrows intermittently.

“…That seems like a lot of work to fingerspell every single word, Zitao-hyung,” Jongin watches Zitao’s hand spell words at the speed of light blanketed under Jongdae’s hand. Zitao smiles and shrugs at him,  _ it’s not a big deal. _

“You sure know a lot of languages, Zitao-hyung…what I would give to have a skill like that. How do you even manage to not mix up words from different languages and be able to focus on one language when you use it?” Jongin says with deep admiration.

Zitao chuckles lightly as his hand stops doing its work, beaming at him. Jongdae laughs, hearing what Jongin said. Jongin then observes that Zitao is beginning to spell something new, as he can see the frown on Jongdae’s face. Zitao glances between Jongdae and Jongin as he continues to spell with a small smile on his face. Jongdae nods thoughtfully as he speaks up, “Zitao says it is easy, really. There are not many differences between some languages; some of them have the same root words.”

Jongin, Kyungsoo and Yixing nod in understanding and then Kyungsoo suddenly looks up, to somewhere behind Jongdae. There is a guy tentatively walking towards them, and Kyungsoo is not sure what to make of it; the guy seems harmless and he seems to be focusing on Kyungsoo himself. Jongin and Zitao also look up at the visitor while Yixing turns around to see what is going on before gripping Jongdae’s arm. Kyungsoo raises his eyebrows and speaks up.

“E-er…hi? Do you need something?” Kyungsoo hears his group behind him shifting around in their seats to look at the visitor as well, and the whole group goes silent.

Kyungsoo does not expect to what is coming.

“A-ah…no. Actually, sort of.  _ It was just…I saw you from back there signing, and I noticed some of you were signing too and I was really surprised! It’s rare that I get to see and meet locally native Deaf people around the world. _ Sorry, I’m rambling too much, my name is Nick. What’s your name?” The guy named Nick ends with a nervous smile and a flourish of his hand above the group. [NO, NO, WELL, SO-SO. REALLY RECENT I SIT BACK-OUT-THERE *Nick turns slightly to move his hand back past behind him* SPOT YOU-ALL SIGN++. ME SURPRISE. RARE SEE MEET++ PEOPLE ALL-OVER WORLD. SORRY RAMBLE, MY NAME fs(NICK). NAME SIGN ns(NICK) *He taps his N-shaped hand on his right temple before his hand moves forward to * v(YOUR NAME WHAT)v]

Kyungsoo and the others, save for Jongdae, can only stare back at Nick, a bit astonished at the speed of his signing, as well as his hybrid of Korean and English lines. Kyungsoo and Zitao watch with fascination as they can understand some of Nick’s English. Some are unaffected by Nick’s English, but they stare in amazement with the signs and when Nick introduces himself in Korean. Jongdae’s head is inclined towards Nick to hear what he is saying and looks puzzled at what their visitor had to say. Kyungsoo brightens immediately and signs back, speaking in his native Korean.

“No no, it’s not a problem at all! My name is …er…wait, do you know Korean Sign Language?” [nh(NO, NO-MIND ME) FINE! MY NAME…*His hands are uncertain of how to spell his name with English letters, waving his fingers in nervousness* WAIT, ^(YOU KNOW K-S-L, KOREAN “SIGN-LANGUAGE”)^]

“Mhm!” [YES] Nick nods happily.

“Wow, really?!” – Kyungsoo’s eyebrows shot up in surprise – “Then my name is Park Kyungsoo. I’m 20, and my name sign is this; I know it looks offensive” – Kyungsoo sees the surprised look on Nick’s face – “but it’s just emphasizing on my eyes, that’s all.” [WOW, REALLY? <MY NAME fs<PARK KYUNGSOO>. I AGE 20, NAME SIGN ns(KYUNGSOO)> *Kyungsoo twirl his K-shaped hand on his right temple* I KNOW SEEM OFFENSIVE, BUT REALLY, EMPHASIZE MY EYE++ BIG.]

“Oh, okay. Hahaha, no worries. That makes sense after all. I’m 21, by the way. Nice to meet you.” [“OH-I-SEE”, #LOL. *Nick shakes his head amused* HEY FINE. nh(UNDERSTAND) AGE 21 ME. NICE MEET-YOU.] Nick says reassuringly.

“And the same to you! Anyway, here’s the rest of my group of friends. Why don’t they introduce themselves, starting with Jongdae-yah here?” Kyungsoo indicates to Jongdae, who turns in his seat to face Nick.

“Hi Nick, I’m Lee Jongdae, 20.” Jongdae faces upward to greet the visitor and he moves his hand from the table to the air. Nick notices that Jongdae is blind so he politely reaches out his hand to shake Jongdae’s hand, and allowing his hand to be felt around before letting go.

“I’m Zhang Yixing, 21. Pleased to meet you,” Yixing gives a dimpled smile to Nick and inclines his head.

[HI, MY NAME fs(HUANG ZITAO). AGE 20. sh(ME NOT DEAF), nh(ME MUTE). I...TRY MY BEST SIGN++ LEARN FROM ns(KYUNGSOO) TEACH-ME. SORRY #IF MISTAKE++.]  _ (Hi, my name is Huang Zitao. I’m 20. I’m not deaf; I’m actually mute. I try my best learning sign language, and Kyungsoo teaches me when he can. I apologize if I’ve made any mistakes.)  _ Zitao nervously glances at Kyungsoo, hoping that he has made his message clear. Nick looks impressed at Zitao’s signing skills while Kyungsoo smiles at Zitao and nods in approval.

“Wow, how long have you been learning how to sign?” Nick asks.

Zitao frowns a bit in thought. [...v(MONTH? WEEK++)^]  _ (Erm…a month? Maybe several weeks?) _

“Whoa! You’re pretty quick to learn in a short amount of time!” Zitao smiles, bowing his head at Nick’s reaction.

Jongdae pipes in, “He’s known to be the linguist among us, though I don’t know how many languages he knows.”

Nick’s eyes widen at the explanation and he stares at Zitao in admiration. “Dang, that’s some serious dedication there. What languages do you know, Zitao-sshi?”

[…CHINESE, KOREAN, ALSO JAPANESE, ENGLISH, ARABIC, SPANISH, RUSSIAN, FEW MORE]  _ (Hm…not only do I know my own languages, Chinese and Korean, but I know Japanese, English, Arabic, Spanish, Russian, and a few others.) _

Nick shakes his head in awe, “That is quite amazing. How do you even remember the characters and alphabets, because there are some differences within the writing systems, such as between Cyrillic and Roman alphabets. There’s so many phonetic differences among those languages…”

Zitao shrugs and smiles once again, just like before with Jongin commenting almost the same thing. Jongin’s voice comes in, getting Nick’s attention.

“Zitao-hyung is just really cool,” Jongin compliments. “Anyway, my name is Kim Jongin. I’m 18. My twin brother is over there, Sehun.” Sehun waves shyly at Nick, yet with an expressionless face.

_ Ah, he must be really shy,  _ Nick thinks to himself as he observes Sehun’s behavior. He smiles warmly to both of them.

After the twins, Luhan, Yifan, Minseok, Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Joonmyeon then introduce themselves in that order. Kyungsoo notices that Nick looks a bit overwhelmed with so many names to remember.

“Nice to meet you all! Wow, you guys must be really close to have a group this big!”

“Ah, er…some of us kind of just met a month ago, like me, Zitao and Jongdae. In fact, Baekhyun and I are the new additions to the group, since we met them through Joonmyeon-hyung who is Chanyeol’s brother.” Kyungsoo explains with a soft smile.

“Wow, that’s…just wow. I never would have guessed. Well, anyway, I apologize for the intrusion but it was really nice to meet you! I’m sitting with my group over there, and you’re free to come by and talk if you like! See you around!” Nick bids the group farewell and leaves them to rejoin his group.

Kyungsoo notices Nick’s group had one feminine guy, and three girls. The guy sticks out like a sore thumb with their white skin tone and obvious Western look, it slightly amuses him that this guy is the only non-Asian guest in this café. Another girl comes to their table and Kyungsoo sees that even though the girl is white, she exudes a Chinese look.  _ Talk about international social networking over there, _ Kyungsoo thinks to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

**_The piano melody and slow electronic notes play throughout the café…_ **

“Ooh, this is our song, unnie!” Hyojung murmurs to Bora. “Haha, that time was a good time, turning down our festive sides a notch, and showing our sultry sides, hahaha!  _ Oneuldo na honja- _ ”

“OH. THIS IS OUR JAM, NICKY.”

Kyungsoo and a few others around him jump at the sudden shout coming from Nick’s table as he looks up to see the white feminine guy stand up and hurry over to the stage, walking in a catwalk fashion with such agility. When they gets on stage and readies themself into position for the “Whoo-ooh-ooh-ooh”, Kyungsoo is amused how deeply focused this guy is into their dancing. The music continues, now with the lyrics, and Erin begins to sing right along with the beat as they dances to Hyorin’s parts.

**_“Chueoki iri manheulkka~ Neon daeche mwohalkka?~”_ **

**_(So many memories, I wonder what you do)_ **

“Whoa…this person got my dance parts spot-on…Must be an international fan of us…” Hyojung mutters to Bora, as they observe the guy’s dancing and singing skills, the audience also watching. Bora nods. “Unnie, what do you think, should we have him join us onstage to dance to Loving U and How Dare You?” Bora looks at her, and thinks about it.

“Yeah, why not? It’ll be fun!”

Later, the sisters excuse themselves from Miyoung and Taeyeon to get ready and they make their way to the ramp that leads up to the stage.

Meanwhile, the guy looks around and, finding themself to be the only one dancing onstage, before they stops and glares to someone in the audience.

“BETCH, WHY ARE YOU NOT UP HERE, YA HOAR? Owh, the nerve of dis bich,” the guy mumbles to themself as they picks up the choreography from where they left off. Hyojung raises her eyebrows at this and side-glances at her sister.

“He’s got a wild mouth,” Hyojung mutters in Korean.

\- -

Just before the guy turns around and bends low to reach their heel, as the choreography on Hyorin’s last line in the second verse requires, the lights go out, the music stops, and a spotlight shines on them when they starts singing Hyorin’s line.

**_“Oneuldo na…n…”_ **

Realizing that the light is shining down on him, the guy freezes mid-action, reaching his heel from behind, his clothed butt sticking out to the café audience. He starts to hyperventilate.

“Wow, uh…talk about an awkward place to stop,” Miyoung mutters. Suddenly, a voice comes on from the speakers in the café.

**_“Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening to you all! My name is Kim Jonghyun, and I am your host tonight. I hope you all are having a wonderful time! And now, I present to you, one of our regular performers, Lee Bora and Lee Hyojung aka Hyorin, SISTAR19!”_ **

The lights turn on with the audience clapping, and the guy straightens up to save himself from further embarrassment. Hyojung and Bora walk up to the stage, taking their microphones from the rack nearby the ramp. Clapping and bowing to the guy who had danced to their song, Hyojung compliments him on his talents. She walks up to him and he bends a little lower to meet her eye level.

“What’s your name?” Hyojung asks in broken, accented English, sharing her microphone.

“E-Erin.”

“Ah,” Hyojung, with her bright eyes, nods in acknowledgment. She continues in English. “Nice to meet you, Erin. I see you’re a fan of us, SISTAR19. My sister and I wanna know if you wanna join us dancing ‘How Dare You’, ‘Give It To Me’, and ‘Loving U’?”

Erin gapes, before speaking out in bits of Korean, mixed with their natural English. “ _ JINJJA _ ?!  _ J-JOHAYO _ ! Ermergerd, NICKY BOO.  _ PPALLI-WA _ . WE’RE GONNA PERFORM ’GIVE IT TO ME’, ‘HOW DARE YOU’ AND ‘LOVING U’ WITH BORA AND HYORIN!  _ Jamkkan _ , do you mind if my friend joins us, too? He’s a great dancer too!”

Hyojung looks at Bora, who nods. Erin turns to the audience to beckon his friend to come over.

As his friend makes his way to the stage, the sisters notice it is the same guy who was just talking to their brothers’ group. Hyojung drawls with an impressed tone, “Whoa, you must be Nick. My brother, Joonmyeon, tell me about you.”

“Yep, that’s me.” Nick smiles nervously, yet he spoke smoothly in Korean. “It’s an honor to meet you two; you ladies are amazing.”

Taken aback by the fluidity of Nick’s Korean, but feeling a bit giddy, Hyojung looks to her sister, whose expression mirror the same kind of feelings. Hyojung comments in her native Korean, “Oh my, you’re such a gentleman. You know how to flatter us. What a handsome man you are.” She giggles as the audience chuckles.

Bora comes up to her sister with a smile on her face and asks, “I don’t have to ask if you guys know the choreos and the lines to the songs, do I?” Nick laughs and shakes his head. Hearing the familiar Korean words of ‘dance’ and ‘know’, as well as seeing Bora gesture out these words, Erin follows suit. Nick replies, “We know them by heart.”

“Great! Nick-sshi, would you like to do half of my parts?” Nick nods and Bora turns to Erin and speaks in broken English. “Erin-sshi, you can do half of my sister’s parts?” Understanding her, Erin nods.

“Are you ready?” Bora giggles as she quotes from their song, So Cool. The other three laughs as Nick and Erin nod eagerly. “Let’s go!” They take to their places onstage.

“Hello, good evening everyone! We are SISTAR19!” Hyojung and Bora greet the audience in Korean before Hyojung looks to the guys. “And we have two guests joining us onstage for two of our popular songs, ‘How Dare You’ and ‘Loving U’. We hope you will enjoy this wonderful performance!”

\- -

SISTAR19 and the two guys start off their performances with “How Dare You”, surprising everyone with their powerful high kicks and fierce dips; with ‘Give It To Me’, there were a lot of burlesque dancing that drove the audience wild with cheers; and then “Loving U”, dazzling everyone with the hip rolls and synchronization. During “Loving U”, Sunggyu and Woohyun come into the café, as they get ready for their performance coming up after SISTAR19.

“Jinki-yah!” Sunggyu greets Jinki, who happens to be walking around the café, checking on the customers, asking if they are satisfied with the services and the meals. Jinki turns around to see who called out to him, and with a beaming smile on his face, he walks up to Sunggyu before shaking hands with him.

“Sunggyu-yah, you guys are coming up soon. Are you guys ready?”

Sunggyu and Woohyun nod. “We have two solo pieces each, one song to sing together, and one new song to sing for the audience,” Woohyun explains. Jinki looks impressed. “A new song already?? I’m sure this will be a hit. What’s it called?”

“’I Like You,’ written by Woohyun mostly.”

“Interesting, interesting,” Jinki murmurs to himself. “Well, I should let you guys go backstage and prepare. The rest of your friends are coming by, I assume?”

“Yeah, they will be here in a few minutes,” Sunggyu says.

Cheers are heard around the café, startling Sunggyu, as the music fades, signaling the end of SISTAR19’s act.

“Thank you so much, Erin and Nick,” – Sunggyu notices Hyojung and Bora bowing to said guys – “for joining us! We had fun with you guys!” The guys bow back and leave the stage, smiling when the audience continues to applaud, as Bora goes backstage to retrieve the two chairs. Hyojung continues to talk as Bora sets up the chairs.

“Now, we would like to present to you a little something of our own. For the first time, it is our own composition. Our composers wrote the other songs that we have performed but this one is something new from us. To all the ladies in the cafe, we hope you’ll enjoy this song; we call it “Ma Boy”. Please anticipate it very much!”

**_“S I S T T T A R~”_ **

**_“1-9”_ **

**_“Baby, stop breakin’ mah heart”_ **

**_“Oh no, You heard me? No more next time~ I hope you got that, boy”_ **

**_“Hey girls”_ **

**_“It’s gon’ be alright”_ **

**_“Hey boys”_ **

**_“Better make it right”_ **

**_“Hey girls”_ **

**_“We gotchya back, gotchya back, go-go-go-gotchya back, Oh!”_ **

Hyojung starts to sing her lines as Bora dances, expressing how a girl doubts her boyfriend’s love.

\- - -

Ingook, Howon, Dongwoo, Sungyeol, Myungsoo, and Sungjong enter the loud café, with guys whooping and cheering at the sexy moves of SISTAR19. They spot Jinki and Zitao, before making their way to find a table for themselves. Sungyeol, however, makes his way to Zitao and tackles him playfully, startling Zitao horribly. It immediately grabs the attentions of Yifan and some of the members surrounding Zitao.

“ _ Yah, good to see you again! _ ” Yifan hears the tall guy whispering loudly in Zitao’s ear, as poor Zitao tries to recover from the shock, his heart thrumming wildly in his chest, yet a grin is slowly creeping on Zitao’s face. The tall guy chuckles softly as he pats on Zitao’s shoulder, “Sorry Zitao-yah, didn’t mean to scare you that bad.”

Zitao shakes his head, grinning before he stands up to give the visitor a hug. Some of the group members at the table begin to stare, wondering what is the relationship between the two. The action does not escape Yifan’s gaze as he takes a sip of his Jasmine tea. When they pull away, Zitao flourishes his hand towards his group, and Sungyeol bows to them.

“Ah, sorry, everyone. My name is Lee Sungyeol, and I’m twenty-one. I’m – well me and six other guys somewhere in the cafe, are old friends of Zitao! We connected a few days ago, and so I’m glad to see him again!” The group warmly responds with introductions and smiles.

“Yo, Z to the Tao, baby. How is everything going so far, Zitao-yah?” Yifan hears another male coming up towards the standing duo. He glances up to see Zitao holding up a thumb and nodding, before he sees the guy with a face that is quite remarkably unique and the gummy smile that this guy has. Yifan feels something stirring inside him when he sees Zitao easily hugging the short male with a smile on his face and nodding. Sungyeol watches them for a moment before he turns around to search the cafe. Just like with Sungyeol, when Zitao and the short guy pull away, the short guy looks to the group and introduces himself as Jang Dongwoo; everyone reciprocates with smiles as Sungyeol looks back and lists off the names to Dongwoo.

“Wow, that’s a lot of people here. Nice to meet you all! Anyway, there’s been no trouble at school for you so far?” The guy pats Zitao’s bottom, as he chuckles.

Yifan glowers at the gesture and scowls at his cup of tea, breathing deeply, listening to what Dongwoo says next. “Ah, that’s good to hear. You have a lot of friends, dude! Just so you know, we’re right next to you guys over there. Come on and say hi if you like.” Out of the corner of his eye, Yifan tracks Zitao with his eyes as he moves to where Dongwoo has indicated the rest of the guys are at. He glares as Zitao is being smothered with hugs and hair-ruffling.

Yifan feels a spark of jealousy when he sees how easily Zitao smiles around the guys, and how comfortable he seems with them, even though Zitao does not make any action to speak. He notices one of the tallest guys in the group only shakes hands with Zitao before letting a shorter guy give Zitao a one-armed hug, and then the tall guy wraps one of his arms around the shorter guy’s lower back. The shorter guy instantly brings up on one of his hands to clasp with his friend’s hand on his side. Yifan could make out the tall guy’s face as a mix between a look of endearment and a look of protectiveness.

_ Oh… _ Yifan observes the couple.

**_“Woo boy~”_ **

Cheering erupting from the audience startles Yifan, as Hyojung and Bora end their song with their final poses before bowing many times to the crowd. Yifan claps goodheartedly, though his eyes are still on Zitao.

**_“Thank you, SISTAR19. You ladies know how to rock the stage! Now, up next is one of our favorites, InVinite; Kim Sunggyu and Nam Woohyun! One of the most amazing duos you will ever hear in your lives, if you have not heard them before! If you have, we are pleased to welcome them back! Give them a hand once again!”_ **

The audience cheers, and there are several people commenting to other people about InVinite, complimenting on duo’s notable vocal talents. Hyojung and Bora have now joined Taeyeon and Miyoung amidst the cheering and are watching the duo coming onstage with anticipation. The duo prepares themselves, retrieving the microphone stands from backstage and adjusting them to their own heights.

Just then, Kikwang, Dongwoon, and Minho come by to deliver the meals to Kyungsoo and his group, as well as Qian’s table and Taeyeon’s table. Kyungsoo hears Chanyeol saying, “WOW! Great, the food’s finally here! I’m starving after all that cheering!! Who knew clapping and cheering could make your stomach feel so hungry for food…”

Kim Sunggyu starts off with his solo, “Because”. The mellow guitar sounds and the sad melodic tune rings out in the café and everyone can see the pure determination and raw emotions that Sunggyu brings out of himself. Afterwards, Sunggyu starts to sing “Only Tears” when all of a sudden, halfway into the song, the lights fade out and a particular spotlight shines on Nam Woohyun. The audience is caught unaware of this sudden switch and cheers only for a moment before letting Woohyun take over in the second half of “Only Tears”. At the end, everyone is left with tears in their eyes, and Woohyun takes a little break before he ends with his solo, “Time”.

The audience is moved to tears at these emotional, heart-breaking songs. The silence is loud in the café as the lights fade to darkness. Then immediately, the lights brighten up in colors and sounds of guitar and ukulele ring throughout the café. Woohyun waves his arms side to side, in time with the music as Sunggyu starts off the song.

**_“Haet-sali naerineun sai mada~ Hwin gooreum heureuneun sai mada~”_ **

**_(In between the cracks of sunlight, In between the flowing white clouds)_ **

Noticing the mood in the café changing from solemn to upbeat and cheery, Woohyun and Sunggyu sees most of their INFINITE group friends standing up and waving their arms to the music. They see other people joining in as they sing their lines for “In the Summer” despite the contrasting seasonal mood as it is in the winter. The ambience and warmth of the café give the feeling of summer in a wintry night.

With a small smile on his face from the happy mood, Yifan looks at the group that Zitao is sitting with, and sees Zitao smiling and rocking his body to the beat, his arm around the shoulders of a guy who looks younger than Zitao and has an androgynous face. He automatically feels moody, frowning at the sight of Zitao and his friends.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

“So, Kyungsoo-hyung?” Jongin rakes his hair with his hand as he turns his head away from the stage to look Kyungsoo in the eyes. Most of the audience is enjoying the performance, swaying or waving their arms to the music. Jongin feels nervous as he tries to bring himself to ask Kyungsoo for a date over the weekend.

“Hm?” Kyungsoo looks at Jongin. Those eyes pierce Jongin in the inside, and Jongin blurts out.

“Date.”

Jongin does not realize he uttered such a word until a few seconds later when Kyungsoo cocks an eyebrow at him, taking out his cell phone. “You wanna know what’s the date?” Jongin is left speechless at Kyungsoo, his mouth opening and closing. Kyungsoo looks at it and says while showing the phone to Jongin, “It’s Friday, Novem-.”

“No,” Jongin interrupts. Kyungsoo’s eyes flicker over at him in confusion.

“I mean, I w-…was uh…if you wanna, I don’t know, like, well, I mean, if you’re free this weeken- if you wanna go som-wait,” Jongin takes a deep breath after realizing how much of a fool he sounded like just then, rambling and stuttering. Kyungsoo does not laugh, he just continues to watch Jongin curiously. Jongin exhales and starts over, “Let’s go somewhere tomorrow? Just the two of us. Like, I don’t know, a movie or something?” Jongin looks away as he scratches the back of his neck, looking at bit embarrassed.

Kyungsoo stares at Jongin, thinking about what he has just asked him. [nh(SURE)] “Sure, I’d like that.”

Jongin glances back at Kyungsoo. “Wait, really?”

Kyungsoo nods with a kind smile. [nh(YES, WHY NOT)  **SINCE** START SCHOOL, NO BREAK. ^(YOU THINK, TOMORROW TIME ESTIMATE 1)^] “Yeah, why not? It’s been a while since we’ve had a break from school. What say you, tomorrow around 1PM?”

Jongin chuckles breathily with a nod. [“THUMB-UP” ^(TEXT ME GO YOUR HOUSE)^] “Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll text you and stop by your place?” Kyungsoo nods, with a smile.

Soon after, Sunggyu and Woohyun end the song with some hula-like dance moves, earning chuckles and claps from the café audience.

“Good evening, everyone,” Woohyun speaks up after the audience finishes their applause, and a smooth melody comes on, as a hint of a new song. “This is a brand-new song, as we finished writing it a few weeks ago. We’d like to dedicate this song to everyone here in this café” – earning squeals from the audience – “because you guys have been very supportive of us tonight, and we can see some of the familiar faces around here. Hey there! We just want to say thank you, and we would like it if you guys could keep on cheering for us in the future. Our last song tonight is called, ‘I Like You’.”

The melody becomes rich and upbeat, with a simple bass beat in the background. Sunggyu and Woohyun take the stage once again as they sing their lines, and during the song, they get off stage to interact with the audience members. Most of the audience members get to shake hands, get hugs and high-fives, and dance with InVinite. When the song ends, everyone cheers loudly and InVinite delivers a bow before heading backstage to change clothes.

**_“That was InVinite! What an appealing performance from the guys! And now, time to settle down and relax with CNBlue vocals! Jung Yonghwa and Lee Jonghyun! By the way, my name is Kim Jonghyun. Don’t be confused now…Hi hyung!!”_ **

The audience chuckles as they hear the DJ randomly greeting his friend as Yonghwa and Jonghyun walk up on stage and Jonghyun gives a casual salute to Jonghyun in the DJ Booth. After the duo have set up the stage with stools and microphone stands, Yonghwa speaks to the audience, “Hello, everyone! How are you all this evening?”

There are shouts of replies of “good, good”s and “Great! It’s been a blast!”s from the audience.

“Awesome! Me and Jonghyun, we’re gonna do a soothing song tonight and, it’s a romantic song that I wrote for someone special. She’s not here in Seoul at the moment, but I’ll always think of her when I sing this song. It’s called Love Light, we hope you all enjoy this piece.”

The lights start to dim, and Jonghyun and Yonghwa start strumming their guitars in a slow, soothing rhythm.

**_“Geudael bomyeon, eolguli bbalggaejigo~ Geudael bomyeon, gaseumi dugeun dugeun~ Aecheoreom sujubgeh malhago~”_ **

**_(When I look at you, my face goes red~ When I see you, my heart goes thump-thump~ I talk with shyness like a kid)_ **

Jonghyun’s gentle, rich voice resounds in the café as people sway to the music and there are couples holding hands and whispering sweet nothings in their partners’ ears.

Zitao is still sitting with the Infinite group, as he looks over to Kyungsoo’s table where Yifan is sitting. He blushes at how true some of the lyrics are when he thinks about his first encounter with Yifan. Yifan is not staring back at him but is talking with Jongdae and Yixing. And though Luhan and Sehun are joined at the hip at one table, holding hands, they are each talking to their neighbors, Luhan to Minseok and Sehun to Joonmyeon. Zitao can make out Sehun talking to Joonmyeon about a bubble tea incident with Luhan that left Sehun disappointed.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Once CNBlue ends their sweet serenade, the audience murmurs in anticipation as it watches CNBlue rearrange the stage a bit.

**_“And now it seems there is a guest coming up onstage to play with Yonghwa and Jonghyun! Ladies and gentlemen, this will be the last live performance for the night” – groans can be heard from the audience – “I’m sorry, hahaha, but there are no more artists that signed up for tonight after this. We will continue to play music like before, but this will be the last performance for the night.”_ **

The audience groans and chuckles, as Yonghwa brings himself forward and accidentally stumbles on a microphone cord. Yonghwa feels a bit foolish, smiling to himself. “Hello everyone out there tonight, I’d like to introduce you all to Juniel. She is an aspiring singer and composer, and I would appreciate it if you all could give her a listen. She has quite a lovely voice and Jonghyun and I, we’re thankful to work with her. Juniel, please say something about yourself and the piece you have for us.”

The girl joined the CNBlue duo onstage while Yonghwa was making a speech, waiting for her turn to speak. When Yonghwa introduces Juniel, the girl bows before taking her spot behind the microphone stand to talk to the audience.

“Thank you, Yonghwa-sshi, Jonghyun-sshi. Good evening, everyone, my name is Juniel! This piece I have for you is something I wrote a few months back, it is called “Babo”. It is a song about a girl feeling like a fool when she falls in love with a guy. She gets all shy and nervous with the guy she likes. It has a sweet melody. I hope you like it!”

The song starts off slow and melodic, as Yonghwa’s and Jonghyun’s smooth vocals echo throughout the cafe. When the chorus comes on, the audience is awed, clapping in time with the rhythm as Juniel’s vocals harmonize with Jonghyun’s and Yonghwa’s vocals.

**_“Oh I love you love you love you~ You love me love me love me~ Ara nal hyanghan neo-ye ma-eumeul~”_ **

**_(I know your heart’s feelings towards me)_ **

**_“Oh I love you love you love you~ Are you love me love me baby~ Nado neoreul saranghanikka?~”_ **

**_(Because I love you)_ **

**_“Nan babo, nan neoman boneun babo~”_ **

**_(I’m a fool, I’m a fool who only looks at you)_ **

Jongdae has been eating and listening to the performances at the same time, as Yixing describes what is happening onstage in brief commentaries. Jongdae tells him for the fifth time that night that he does not have to do it, but Yixing tells him that he does not want Jongdae to miss out what is happening. He takes Jongdae’s hand after Jongdae has placed down his fork from finishing the last of his ravioli dish, and strokes his thumb on Jongdae’s hand.

The tingly sensation from the contact leaves Jongdae slightly blushing and his heart hammering slightly.

\- - -

When Juniel sings her last lines, the guitars play their last strum as Juniel’s voice fades to the silence of the café. For a moment, it is quiet and still. Then all of a sudden, a guy cries out, “JUNIEL! JUNIEL!” and then more people join him in rooting for Juniel.

Juniel looks surprised at the reaction and she looks to Yonghwa and Jonghyun, unsure of what she is supposed to do. Yonghwa and Jonghyun smile at her and nod their heads to the audience, making a little bow towards them, before they start clapping, and the rest of the audience follow suit.

Juniel looks out to the audience, feeling a bit shocked at the touching moment. She gathers herself to stand up from the stool and, still holding her guitar, bows to the audience many times in gratitude.

“Thank you all for your support tonight! I really had a great time with you all. I’m sad, too, that this is the last performance for tonight, but I hope that everyone will never forget this night. Thank you all once again, and have a wonderful night!!”

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

After CNBlue and Juniel clean up the stage and have settled down at some table for dinner, Kyungsoo has finished his dinner and excuses himself to join Nick and his group. He wants to know a bit more about him and the friends Nick is with.

“Joonmyeon-hyung, I’m gonna join Nick-sshi over there and just talk with him for a few minutes or so. I’ll be back, ok?”

Joonmyeon nods, taking a bite piece of his flank steak.

“Wha, where are you going, hyung?”

Kyungsoo looks to Jongin, who is looking up at him looking a bit dejected. Kyungsoo had just seen him engaging in deep conversation with Sehun and Luhan, he did not think that Jongin would really notice him leaving.

“Oh, I’m just gonna go visit Nick-sshi and his group over there. Remember Nick-sshi from earlier?”

“Oh yeah, that guy,” Jongin turns around to look for the said person. Once he sees Nick, he turns back around and pouts a bit. “Okay, yeah, alright.”

“Jonginnie-yah,” Kyungsoo smiles to himself, falling for Jongin’s adorable pout. “I’m only gonna be gone for a few minutes, not for hours or days. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Just keep talking with Sehun and Luhan.” Kyungsoo pats Jongin’s head as he walks past him.

\- - -

“Hey guys,” Kyungsoo says quietly in accented English as he nears Nick’s table, waving at them. Nick’s eyes quickly shoot up to him, after he finishes talking with a short Asian girl who, Kyungsoo observes, likes to laugh a lot.

“Oh hi Kyungsoo! Good to see you again, did you want to join us for a bit? Come sit down, have a seat!” [HI ns(KYUNGSOO), GOOD SEE YOU AGAIN! WANT JOIN-US? COME+, SIT] Speaking in Korean, Nick stands up to move over, allowing Kyungsoo to take a seat next to him. The group looks a bit bewildered before all eyes are resting on Kyungsoo.

“Thanks, Nick-sshi.” Kyungsoo feels nervous, as all eyes are on him.  _ It’s the same feeling that I had when I first joined Chanyeol’s brother’s group at their table a few weeks ago. But this is half the size of Joonmyeon’s group, why should it be a big deal? I should be used to it already,  _ Kyungsoo thinks to himself.

“Why don’t I let my friends introduce themselves; Guys, this is Kyungsoo, and Meilin, you can go first.” Nick speaks in English, Kyungsoo able to understand most of it.

“Hi, I’m Meilin.” The Chinese girl waves cutely, not like a kid but somewhat in an endearing manner.

“Sheen.” The girl greets, holding up two fists with their thumbs up and an odd open-mouthed smile.

“Hello there, I’m Erin.” The androgynous male awkwardly waves at him, though their smile looks naturally relaxed. “You saw me up on stage earlier, haha,” they chuckle lightly.

“Katr- Ah, Kelly, please. Just Kelly.” The young woman chuckles lightly to herself, pushing up the glasses on the bridge of her nose.

“I’m June! Nice to meet you, Kyungsoo!” The woman, though she seems young to Kyungsoo, waves her hand a little energetically.

“Nice to meet you too! Wow, you guys are very…different, how did you all meet?” [WOW, YOU-ALL DIFFERENT DIFFERENT! v(HOW MEET)v] Kyungsoo talks in semi-fluent English and signs at the same time out of habit, and he notices how everyone except Nick look half confused and half fascinated with his signing.

“Save for Meilin here, I met them all through an International K-pop Forum about two or three years ago, and we’ve been good friends since then. Meilin here, we go to the same college. We all planned to be here for the next few weeks since we’re on vacation right now.” [DIFFERENT *Nick extends his hand towards Meilin* THEY-ALL, I MEET FINISH FROM INTERNATIONAL #KPOP ONLINE ASSEMBLY fs(FORUM) "2-YEAR-PAST", "3-YEAR-PAST", SINCE "GOOD-FRIENDS”. fs(MEILIN) US-TWO GO SAME COLLEGE. WE LUCKY COME HERE NEXT FEW WEEKS _^(WHY)^_ NOW SCHOOL BREAK. WE THINK FINISH PLAN DECIDE MEET HERE]

Kyungsoo manages to understand at least half of Nick’s English, thanks to his friend’s sign language. “Wow, nice. Are you all from different countries?” [COOL! ^(YOU-ALL DIFFERENT COUNTRIES)^]

“Oh, I’m from Singapore,” June says.

“I’m from Scotland,” Erin replies.

“The rest of us are from the United States, although Sheen lives in the East Coast while Meilin, Kelly, and I reside in the West Coast.” [WE-FOUR FROM #USA, BUT SHEEN LIVE E-C, US-THREE LIVE W-C]

“Ahh, cool. I guess from your faces that you don’t know signs, do you? Am I making you guys uncomfortable with my hands, ‘cause I can put my hands down, if you like.” Kyungsoo asks, still in accented English, concernedly, and the group except for Nick looks almost dazed before regaining their composures to respond quickly.

“No no, it’s fine! We don’t know any signs to save our lives, but just do whatever you’re comfortable with. We will manage,” Meilin says.

“Okay, well, I’m just gonna put my hands down, since we all can talk, haha,” Kyungsoo laughs.

The group laughs with him, and the atmosphere becomes friendlier and less awkward.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

After a while, Jonghyun announces that the café will be closing soon, as it is almost midnight. The café is still crowded as usual, but the atmosphere has settled down to the point of almost tranquil. People are still awake, but feeling sleepy or just being tired, not as energetic as earlier that evening.

“Wow, really, the time has gone by so fast,” Kyungsoo notes. “It was about 8PM when the performances started…and they ended about two hours later.”

“Dang, almost two hours of chatting, and it doesn’t feel quite finished yet…Aw, I wish we could talk more but we gotta head back to the metro, our hotel’s kinda near the Namsan tower area. It’s a bit of a ride from here,” Nick says. The others nod.

The group then exchanges phone numbers since they all have KakaoTalk on their phones, so if they ever want to check up on each other, they can communicate via KakaoTalk.

“Well, it has been quite a wonderful time to talk with you guys. I hope you all have an amazing time here in South Korea. And Nick, I hope you can meet my friend sometime if and when you are in the area.” Kyungsoo refers to Daehyun, as he and Nick had shared their experiences, and Nick had expressed his interest in meeting more Deaf locals. “Good luck with everything!” Kyungsoo smiles and is about to stand up when Meilin holds out her hand.

“Wait, do you mind if we can get a picture though?” Meilin asks.

“Hm? Oh, sure why not? Memories are often best kept in photographs.”

June asks a nearby customer if she would not mind taking a picture of the group, and the lady obliges with a smile.

Kyungsoo stands next to Nick, as June stands on the other side of Nick; Kat next to June, Meilin next to Kyungsoo, Sheen next to Kat, and Erin next to Meilin. They pose three different times, one casual, one nice, and one silly poses. They all thank Kyungsoo and bow to him, as Kyungsoo does the same. He is shocked when he receives hugs from all of them; he shyly waves and chuckles before taking his leave to rejoin his group.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Hyojung, Bora, and Joonmyeon are helping around the café, cleaning up some of the empty tables and stacking up chairs. Jonghyun is cleaning up the DJ Booth when Jonghyun and Yonghwa pass by and strike up a conversation with him. Taeyeon and Miyoung have gone home for the evening. Hyoyeon is waiting for Doojoon, as he is her ride back home from the cafe.

Taemin joins Luhan, Sehun and Jongin, and the four of them play games while waiting for the others to finish up. Minho, Kikwang, and Dongwoon are giving away receipts to the people who have yet to pay for their meals. Yoseob is helping Doojoon and Jinki take care of the bills and the schedules for the next few weeks. Kibum, Hyunseung and Junhyung are in the kitchen cleaning up.

Chanyeol comes up to Nick and greets him warmly before handing him four objects, two of the same set. The set has a Polaroid picture of his sisters posing for the camera and a CD of the songs they had written for several of their previous mini-albums, as well as new hidden tracks.

“My noonas want you guys to have these, as a token of gratitude for supporting their music and being incredible and polite fans. They hope to hear from you sometime in the future, whether through Twitter or whatever.”

“Wha…wow, are you serious?!” Nick gapes at the sets being handed to him and Chanyeol chuckles.

“Yeah, Hyojung-noona and Bora-noona said that they have never seen guys dance as well as you two, and they really admire your personalities.”

“Wow, oh man.  _ Thank you!  _ Thank you so much, Chanyeol-sshi. Wow, this is unbelievable. Just wow. Erin! Look!” After thanking Chanyeol in Korean, Nick bows to Chanyeol a few times before turning slightly to get Erin’s attention. “We got personal gifts from SISTAR19!!”

\- - -

“We’ll see you later, Zitao-yah! I gotta take the girls to Soojung’s place, they’re having a sleepover. It’ll be just me and you this weekend. Let me know when you leave with Minseok, because he offered to take you home, ok?” Qian waves to Zitao. Zitao nods. He then returns to the group table since INFINITE left earlier to head home. Only Sunggyu and Woohyun are left in the café. Zitao takes his place next to Jongdae and Yixing, before he looks up at Yifan and pales.

Yifan is glaring at him before he suddenly averts his gaze.

_ What did I do?,  _ Zitao thinks to himself.


	20. Getting to Know You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yongguk gets to know more about Himchan.
> 
> Jongin and Kyungsoo go out for the whole day.
> 
> Joonmyeon has an interview with Kyungsoo the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning for profanity, hurt/angst, and deaths...in the first part of three parts of the chapter.
> 
> In the third part of the chapter, you will need the ASL Guide.

**_Knock knock…_ **

Yongguk keeps himself warm, blowing on his hands in the chilly morning air. He has the map that Himchan drew him yesterday, with directions getting to the house. He looks around the neighborhood, and notices how some houses are gated behind walls with large, wooden double doors. Himchan’s house has a driveway and a fenced gate that was left open when he arrived.

Yongguk checks his watch. _9AM, right on time,_ Yongguk says to himself. _I hope this makes a good impression on Himchan._ He waits a few seconds before the door opens to reveal Himchan looking showered and clean, in a small, tight room.

“Ah, good morning, Yongguk-s-“– Yongguk gives Himchan a pointed look – “…goon. Sorry. Anyway, come on in, it’s just me for the time being. Jonguppie just left a few minutes ago for a morning run. It’ll be some time before he comes back, because he’ll probably be dancing at some basketball court. That’s how he is,” Himchan says with a chuckle. He steps aside to let Yongguk take off his shoes inside the entry area before closing the door behind Yongguk and leading him up one step further inside the house. Yongguk raises his eyebrows at the sight of the small room and a step that lies between Himchan and himself. He whistles to himself, _People sure weren’t kidding about Himchan and his house…_ He goes up the step and finds himself turning right into the den area that merges with the kitchen and dining room. The wall in front of him has photo frames of Himchan and Jongup in their baby and teenage years.

“Welcome to my house. Would you like something warm to drink?” Himchan makes his way to the kitchen to search for mugs, opening the cabinet doors and Yongguk can see a big television screen in the spacious den. “Tea, Coffee or Hot Chocolate?”

“Thanks, Himchan, but maybe wine instead? So we can settle the mood between us, y’know? Break the ice and turn up the heat,” Yongguk smirks as he sits on the couch, studying the big portrait frame hanging on the wall adjacent to the couch, on his right side. It is a picture of younger Himchan and Jongup with their parents, in their casual attires. _They look really happy, I can see Himchan gets most of his features from his father and the cheekbones from his mother…Jongup seems to get most of the features from his mother, but the nose from his father._

Yongguk is aware that there is silence from the kitchen. He continues to study the portrait when, out of the corner of his eye, he sees Himchan come out of the kitchen, with two empty mugs in his hands. Himchan gives Yongguk an annoyed glare, and the latter male cannot help but burst out chuckling and biting his lip, his gummy smile threatening to show. Himchan blushes and looks away, returning to the kitchen.

“I’m just kidding, Himchan-ah…I would like some hot chocolate, please.” Yongguk sees a falter in Himchan’s steps as he called him with endearment, “But really, you do need to loosen up.”

“…Sure…” Himchan turns his head slightly so that Yongguk can see a part of his side profile. “One hot chocolate coming up.” He resumes his walk back to the kitchen.

Yongguk raises an eyebrow at the change of Himchan’s tone, which has sounded a little soft-spoken and subdued. _Not exactly his character,_ he ponders but not for long. He continues to look around the house, thinking to himself, _Himchan’s house is pretty average-sized for a Korean house, but wow, this is pretty spacious. I wonder where Himchan keeps his instruments._ Before he asks Himchan about his instruments, his eyes catch sight of a door that says “Altar”. Getting up to get a closer look at the door, he notices how intricate the design on the door is. He wonders what that room is about, but he knows better not to snoop around. He will have to wait for an opportune time to ask Himchan about it.

“Alright, so the milk is warming up and it sh…” Himchan trails off when he sees Yongguk turning around to face him, and he knows that Yongguk has just seen the door leading to the altar. He makes eye contact with Yongguk, holding it for a few seconds before averting his eyes and clearing his throat. “Why don’t you come with me to Jongup’s and my studio in the back of the house…well, it’s not much of a studio but an empty garage, but we use it for music purposes. Come on, right this way.” Yongguk notices how Himchan looks a bit fidgety, turning around to exit out the door, walking past the kitchen. He follows him outside.

The nippy, chilly wind blows on Yongguk’s face once again as Yongguk spots two smaller buildings standing next to each other with a gap that can fit two people in between. One building is small enough to house the laundry, as he notices how there is a vintage laundry pole hanger next to the building, and the clothes on it look dripping wet; the other building is big enough to be assumed as a garage, as there is a window on the upper half of the garage side door to peek through.

Himchan makes his way to the garage, with Yongguk following him again. When Yongguk enters, he sees shelves of CDs and displays of traditional instruments housed in wooden cabinets behind glass doors. There is a keyboard and a drum set as well as a big stereo speaker, and a gigantic dance floor. There is a wide cushion-paneled garage door, but it seems to have not been in use for a long time.

“This used to be the garage but we soundproofed it as to not distract our neighbors when Jongup practices his dances or when I practice my instruments. Over there, you can see the CDs that we own. One side is traditional Korean music and the other side is western music along with some modern Korean music. Jongup’s a bit biased for hiphop music, but I don’t mind. They’re all alphabetized by last name of the artists, and then their first names. Oh, the milk should be ready. I’ll be right back. Make yourself comfortable here, you can draw up some chairs over there, behind the drum set and listen to some of my CDs. Oh yeah that reminds me; I have your CDs in my room. I’ll come back with the drinks and the CDs.” Yongguk nods as Himchan softly smiles and excuses himself. Yongguk goes to get the chairs, placing them in the center of the garage and studies the shelves in front of him.

Once Himchan brings the hot chocolate in reusable travel mugs and the CDs, they get to work. Himchan introduces Yongguk to the instruments, careful to take them out of their cases one at a time. “They’re my babies,” Himchan smiles, adoring his instruments with pride, and Yongguk jests back, chortling, “Am I the father?” earning a stony look from Himchan.

“I’m being serious here, Mr. Bang Yongguk.”

“As was I, Mrs. Bang Himchan.” Himchan rolls his eyes, but he fails to resist the urge to smile at Yongguk’s joke.

“You’d make a bad husband for your future wife with a name like that.”

“You do know you were smiling just now, and I feel downright offended,” Yongguk steels himself.

Himchan scoffs, dropping his smile. “Yah...what the heck?” Yongguk shrugs, smiling.

“You need to relax, Himchan-ah, like I’ve been telling you all along.”

“Yeah yeah yeah, let’s get to work…”

An hour into the project, Himchan and Yongguk decide to take a break from discussing the musical aspects they like from Himchan’s CDs and how they should start off their collaboration project. Yongguk admires the way Himchan speaks so lovingly about his music and the way he gets excited to hear his favorite segments in the songs, waving his hand in beat with the music.

The duo goes back inside the house; as Himchan goes to clean the mugs, Yongguk kindly offers to help. When they finish, they head to the den to relax, Himchan sitting on the couch, and Yongguk sitting on one of the armchairs. Jongup has not returned yet, and Yongguk asks Himchan if they should look for Jongup.

“No, I told you earlier, he sometimes likes to dance around at some basketball court after running, and then he’d be back. I’d give him about one more hour. He’s usually gone for two hours, at the most.”

Yongguk nods understandingly, and he cannot help but glance a few times at the family portrait. He feels so curious to know where Himchan’s parents are, if they were abroad or in a different house. Glancing at the door that was labelled “Altar”, he feels his curiosity increasing by the second. Yongguk hopes this is the opportune time, and so he clears his throat, ready to find out.

“So…Himchan-ah…” Himchan looks at Yongguk. Yongguk blinks, still staring at the family portrait, and he nods to the frame. “Wh…Where are your parents? Are they...around?” He sneaks a glance at Himchan, and he can see Himchan’s eyes glazing, unfocused for a brief moment before Himchan looks around at the family portrait.

There is a heavy silence as Yongguk waits for Himchan to speak. Himchan sighs sadly, and stands up, catching Yongguk by surprise.

“Come with me…” Himchan does not look at Yongguk directly in the eyes, but he is staring somewhere to the right of Yongguk’s face. Yongguk stands up and they walk to the door nearby that says “Altar”.

“First, I don’t want anyone to know about this…I haven’t seen this room in a while now…” Himchan draws his breath shakily. His hand trembles lightly as he reaches for the doorknob. “Second, what I’m about to show you, only a few people know about this. I can trust that you will promise not to tell anyone about this?”

“Sure, I’ll keep my promise.” Yongguk lifts his hand to rest on Himchan’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Hearing the seriousness and genuineness in Yongguk’s voice, Himchan nods and opens the door. At first, Yongguk sees a dark room, but Himchan turns on the lights to reveal paper-screened sliding doors. Through the paper, Yongguk can see another light fixture and some shadows. They enter the room and Yongguk closes the door. Himchan bows to the sliding doors before sliding them open. “Come on up, but please kneel on the floor. There are some knee cushions over there to your right, if you want,” Himchan instructs.

Yongguk inhales slowly when he sees the sight in front of him. There, on an elevated wooden platform, in the opposite end of the room facing Yongguk, is an elaborate decorated golden shrine. On the wall hang two portraits of the parents, looking almost unchanged from the family portrait in the living room. There is a wooden table under the photos, with some sort of incense bowl and flowers that have seemed to be recently placed there, looking vibrant. Yongguk hears a sniffle from Himchan, and says nothing, now realizing that Himchan’s parents have passed away some time ago.

“Hyosung must’ve done that…without telling me. Jonguppie hasn’t come here for a few weeks…” Himchan walks up and across the wooden floor, and kneels to the shrine. “Abeoji…Eomeoni…I’m sorry for being a bad son…for not visiting you as much as I should’ve been...” For a few moments, Yongguk can hear Himchan mumbling and silently weeping, his head still bowed, resting on his hands. With his heart feeling a little heavy in his chest, Yongguk looks to his right and he sees a stack of knee cushions. He takes one and proceeds to step up onto the wooden floor, placing the cushion in front of him and kneeling on it. He waits in silence for Himchan to finish.

Silence falls upon them for the third time today, and soon after, Himchan rises back up, still on his knees.

“Come with me to my room, Yongguk,” Himchan says tiredly. He stands up, a little hunched, walking backwards, unable to look at his parents. Yongguk follows him and places his cushion back atop the stack. Himchan slides the doors close, sniffling and wiping the tears from his eyes. He bows and exits the altar, turning right before he reaches the kitchen. Yongguk bows to the doors out of respect, and closes the door of the altar room.

Once in the den, Yongguk follows Himchan into the hallway, glancing at the family portrait one more time as he passes by. _They looked so happy together as a family,_ Yongguk thinks to himself, and he is surprised when he feels the tears welling up in his eyes. He blinks rapidly so that the tears would not fall.

Once in the hallway, he sees only one out of the four doors open, the last door on the right side. Making his way to Himchan’s room, he sees pictures of Jongup and Himchan in the hallway, with the boys in their baby, teenage and young adult years. Yongguk smiles at the sight of Jongup’s bright smile that remains unchanged in the pictures and the sight of Himchan as a kid being adorable when pouting. There are a few pictures of their parents, but only when Himchan and Jongup were younger. He is slowly puzzled at this. _Just how long have their parents been dead?_

When Yongguk reaches the last door, he sees a plain bedroom layout: a desk near the door, a bed near the window on the wall adjacent to the desk, and a closet opposite the window.

Himchan is sitting on the floor, his back against the bed, his knees drawn up to his chest. He has his head down, his arms hugging his knees and head, and shoulders shaking. Yongguk can hear the weeping noises from the guy.

Yongguk knocks and slowly enters, before he seats himself next to Himchan, drawing up one of his knees for one of his arms to rest upon. He stares at the floor, waiting for Himchan to speak. After the sobs die down, Himchan is left sniveling, still not looking up.

“My…Our…pa…” Himchan gulps and clears his throat. “Our parents were killed ei-eight years ago,” Himchan says with great difficulty. Yongguk widens his eyes, whipping his head to look at Himchan in shock.

 _What, Himchan’s parents were killed? Eight years ago?!_ Yongguk did not expect to hear that from Himchan. Until he saw the altar, he thought Himchan and Jongup were disowned or perhaps the parents had recently passed…but to have lived eight long years without parents, Yongguk cannot comprehend how it is possible. He can only stare at Himchan with sympathy and a tinge of awe.

“They were c-coming back home that night…f-from a weekend getaway in the mountains. Their car got involved in what could have been an almost head-on collision with another driver’s, because the driver was fucking drunk and couldn’t tell which lane he was on, and the bastard _fucking ran them off the fucking mountainside._ ” Himchan lifts his head from his arms with his eyes closed, showing an expression of distraught, as he roars blindly at the wall in front of him, emphasizing the last few words with a louder, pained voice. He breaks down into wheezing sobs again, lowering his head back unto his arms. Yongguk has slightly winced from Himchan’s profane outburst but does nothing to console him yet. The sounds of Himchan’s sniffling and clearing his throat makes him look really pitiful, and Yongguk wishes he could do something to console him.

“Jongup and I were here at home, waiting for them, w-when I got the call. Jonguppie was watching tv…and I picked up the phone...a-and I heard, ‘Hello, is this the residence of M...Moon Jongsoo and Kim Hanchul?’ I said, ‘This is Moon Himchan, their son speaking…M-May I ask who is ca...calling?’….” Himchan trails off, sniffling, and Yongguk lifts his other arm to hug Himchan around the shoulders. “’I’m sorry, this is the police. I have t...terrible news for you. Your p-parents were k...killed in a car accident.’” Himchan’s voice quivers and he draws another shaky breath. “’We f-found them off the mountainside a... _ahem_ ...after receiving word f-from other drivers and witnesses of a drunk driver s-speeding down the road. _Ahem._ I’m s-sorry, son.’” He gasps softly again, warm tears emerging in his eyes as he continues to remember the painful memory. “I was fourteen years old at the time, Jongup was ten.”

Yongguk feels a tear running down his cheek as he looks at Himchan being in such a vulnerable and pitiful state. “You don’t have to go on…” He wipes the tear away. “...if it hurts to remember.” Himchan shakes his head, clearing his throat. He lifts his head to rest his chin on his arms.

“No one knows about this, like I said, except for Hyosung and my relatives…it’s time I trust you with this information because you’ve been a caring friend for me and Jongup.

“After the police told me the news, I didn’t know what was happening around me at that time. All I knew was that I had shut the door, and I was crying, sitting with my back against the door, and I was calling Hyosung. She was my best friend and neighbor at the time…Anyway,” – Himchan gulps – “Jongup was at the other side of the door, asking me what was wrong and why I was not letting him in. Moments later, I heard Hyosung soothing Jongup and I knew she hadn’t told Jongup about the news, because I heard her encouraging Jongup to watch his favorite show. Then, I was sitting here right in this spot when Hyosung came in and she sat where you sat.” Himchan sighs.

“She let me cry out my tears, and then that’s when Jongup came in. He kept hearing me crying and he w…he was asking for our parents…” Himchan pitifully looks to the door that Yongguk came in through earlier. “…’Where’s u...umma? Where’s appa?’…” His voice breaks even now as Himchan stares at the doorway with an expression of hopelessness. “Jonguppie kept asking those same questions over and over…and every time he asked those questions, _every time…_ it hurts me so much the questions were like bullets to my heart.

“…And that was when I heard him say, ‘There was some breaking news in my cartoons, about a dr...drunk driver in a two-car c-crash with two other pe…people.’” Himchan sniffles, slowly shaking his head in despair, and he makes a strangled chuckle in his throat.

“…Heh,” Himchan scoffs softly as he tries to hold himself from falling apart, biting his lip and blinking away the falling tears. “I lost it right there…”

Himchan starts to rock on his feet and bottom, shaking his huddled body back and forth. His voice starts to become hysterical but Himchan continues to keep it in control. “I couldn’t bring myself to tell Jonguppie about our parents just yet…I felt him tugging on my arm” – Himchan makes to tug his arm – “asking for our parents over and over, and dammit, I snapped. _I fucking snapped._ I yelled and shouted at Jongup, I even _shoved him to the floor_.” He heaves lightly, trying to regain his composure. “Hyosung held me back…from doing something even more stupid that I would regret. I was a bad brother, a really _bad_ brother.” Coughing a little bit and sniffling, he tries to wipe off his tears that are falling rapidly on his face. “I sh...shouted to him that they’re d- _dead_ , ‘because some drunk driver decided to do something fucking _senseless”_ – a sniffle – “an-an-and stupid on the mountainside and knocked the car, _w-with our parents inside,_ off the ro-road.’…” Himchan starts to hyperventilate, and Yongguk takes action to bring Himchan close to him, hugging him. Yongguk feels a warm wetness on his clothed shoulder as he hears Himchan letting out his whimpering sobs again, and he rubs Himchan’s back consolingly.

Yongguk blinks away the tears in his eyes, looking to the wall opposite the two of them, where he can picture a ten-year-old Jongup sitting there in the memory, looking frightful and crying. He feels really sorry for the brothers who had to deal with this sudden news at such a late time of the night. After a few minutes, Himchan’s sobs have quietened down before he clears his throat again.

“And Jongup…” Himchan slowly pulls away from Yongguk, scooting back to his original position. He takes a moment to wipe the tears off his face and continues on. “God, I…I felt so _horrible_ and guilty looking at him, his body shaking and tears falling on his face. I couldn’t stand it anymore, not after what I had done to him. I left the room to get some water, and when I was coming back, I heard Hyosung comforting him. Then I heard Jongup say he wanted our parents back, _over_ and _over_. ‘I want them back, noona, please give them back. I WANT THEM BACK.’ I came back here to see Jongup standing there against the wall, shouting at Hyosung moments before he fell to his knees, crying. God, he was only ten years old. I couldn’t blame him for wanting our parents back. I went to hug him and consoled him…and you know what Jongup said to me?” Himchan looks directly at Yongguk with his wet, bloodshot eyes. Yongguk shakes his head sympathetically.

Himchan smiles bitterly. “’Hyung, p-please don’t leave me too. I don’t want you to g-go.’” Himchan exhales sharply, clearing his throat. “‘I don’t want to be alone. I’m sorry for making you mad. Please don’t leave me alone, hyung!’…” Himchan blinks slowly, letting the tears fall. He sighs. “My babo Jonguppie…so young for that to happen to him. I held him in my arms, he was small for his age” – Himchan mimics to hold an invisible Jongup on his lap, his knees dropping down to a cross-legged pose – “and I told him as I was rocking him, no I _vowed_ to him, that I would never leave his side, that I would do everything I could to ensure our futures. I swore to do what I can to provide for him. Of course, I was fourteen at the time. What was I thinking? What fourteen-year-old kid would say that kind of stuff and mean it? But I really did mean what I said back then. I had him promise me not to leave my side, and he did not hesitate to promise that…” Himchan has a little smile on his face as he remembers on the memory. “He still had that bright smile on his face after we promised, even when we were crying our hearts out…” Yongguk smiles softly, remembering the bright smile he had seen on the portraits in the house and from the real deal Jongup himself. Himchan chuckles lightly.

“After that moment, I realized how lucky and blessed I was to still have my little brother in my life; but, at the same time, I felt so wrong, for being so happy to still have my Jonguppie when our parents had died that night…”

Yongguk understands now why Himchan calls Jongup ‘my Jonguppie’, because Himchan adores his brother to pieces and will do anything for him. Yongguk also understands the love that Himchan has for Jongup to the point where Himchan would be shameless to shower his affections on his brother in public, where he would do anything for his little brother. Yongguk smiles as he remembers the first day he met Himchan, when during lunch hour, he saw Himchan flailing his arms to get Jongup’s attention. He was definitely shameless with his image with everyone looking at him. Himchan continues on, bringing Yongguk’s attention to him.

“Hyosung and I went to the morgue with my aunt and uncle to confirm my parents’ identities…” There was a slight pause as Himchan takes in the memory, before he realizes he had trailed off, “...and it was painful to see them…” – _sniffle_ – “I didn’t want Jongup to come with me, because he was only ten at the time. Hyosung’s parents had talked to our relatives, and so they came up to stay with us for the next few months, taking care of Jongup and I. The f…” – Himchan’s voice breaks at that point, and his voice is so thick with emotions that Himchan is having a hard time to swallow and continue speaking, although he realizes that he is getting a little parched – “The funeral happened a week later. We gave our parents a formal burial…I wish you were there to see it, Yongguk.” A sniffle. “It was such a beautiful casket for the both of them…Death would not dare part them both; they still lay side by side for eternity, even after death.”

Yongguk feels a pang in his heart at the words, a wave of emotions washing over him and yet he manages to keep himself in control.

“Our relatives refused to let this house go for sale, and even so, we found out from our parents’ will, that the house was to be entrusted to myself and Jongup alone, as well as the instruments that you saw in the garage. Not only that, but the money as well…people nowadays think that Jongup and I are rich, but honestly, we’re not. I personally don’t believe we’re rich, I mean, look at this house, it isn’t exactly a mansion. Every now and then, our relatives would check up on us and make sure we’re being well fed and all. I couldn’t thank them enough.

“Jongup’s birthday came up in four months…and…” Himchan trails off, sniffling. Yongguk feels a wave of sadness wash over him for the poor kid. “For the first time in our lives…we didn’t have our pa…parents w…with us. We didn’t have a family to celebrate with, parents to share m…memories with.” Himchan clears his throat again. “It was just me and Jongup. Hyosung had left for the States with her family, we didn’t know it was going to be for a long time.

“...Yongguk…” Yongguk blinks at his name being called for an answer, “when you were young, did you ever feel as a kid…that life without parents and rules would mean freedom and fun, and you couldn’t wait for that to happen?”

The said male watches Himchan, his heart heavy in his chest. He gulps and nods, having felt that often back then. Himchan smiles bitterly.

“I had thought so, too. But turns out, it wasn’t… Life without parents…is hard when you’re at such a young age. Jongup was turning eleven, and I was about to be fifteen two months after. I was lucky to have some neighbors help me cook and throw a surprise birthday party for Jongup.” Himchan feels tears welling up, feeling nostalgic at the memory. “I saw the sad look on Jongup’s face before I dropped him off at school, and after I picked him up later in the day. After we walked back home, I saw the bright smile on his face when he was surprised by our neighbors throwing a birthday party all for him, because I wanted to make it the best birthday ever for him.

“When he told me that I was the best hyung and his most favorite person in the whole wide world, and he loved me as big as the universe…” Himchan lets out a light sad chuckle.

“It was the _best_ and yet, the _worst_ feeling I could ever feel…I felt like when he said that, I had replaced our parents for Jongup, and I couldn’t deal with that. No one could ever compare to our parents. I couldn’t stay mad at Jongup, because it was his birthday, and he was looking at me with those admiring eyes. Those eyes of his spoke in volumes of love and of hope, reminding me that he needed me so dearly in his life, like I needed him.

“Our parents were amazing musicians, performing with orchestras… as well as performing traditional dances and contemporary dances. Those were their careers, and they were successful artists. Offstage, they were the most wonderful, loving parents we were so lucky to have. So blessed to have…

“Even with the inherited money, I would not accept it as a status of our wealth. I didn’t want to be viewed as the snobby kind of person; I didn’t want Jongup to be bullied for our wealth status…he’s already been bullied enough before for being naive,” Himchan shakes his head at remembering one memory in his secondary school, “I remember standing up for my brother one too many times at school, fighting back at his bullies with words. Jongup, he didn’t know any better than to just stand there and take in the physical and verbal punches…Ugh, those kids.” Himchan shakes his head again.

“I worked part time jobs at the same time as I was attending school, careful to choose the time slots outside of my classes in high school so I could find some time to work during the weekdays, while Jongup was in school, and weekends. I would make sure that I would either pick him up after he was done with his dance rehearsals, or be here when he came home. I was not exactly workaholic, but I worked enough to provide Jongup and myself what we can live on. I was able to pay our tuition with my earnings from my part time jobs…along with some help from the inherited money. I only used the inherited money for special payments, so our tuitions were the obvious first thing on our list…as well as the payment for our parents’ graves.

“And now, here I am, telling almost my whole life story to someone that I met in music class a few weeks ago. The same friend who has an interest in Shakespeare, and the same person who is blatantly and constantly flirting with me, just to make friends with me. Why the hell did you come into my life, and why is it that I feel like I can trust you with my life?”

Yongguk stares at Himchan in awe, with an admiring gaze. Although he knows that Himchan had mentioned his job life yesterday, now, after hearing everything in single detail, he is still amazed at how unselfish Himchan has been growing up in the past eight years, how attentive Himchan is to his own and Jongup’s needs, as well as to their education. He scoots a little closer to Himchan, and Himchan turns his head slightly to face Yongguk.

“For one,” Yongguk says, “I never knew you had such a story to tell…It’s true that I did flirt with you, because I initially wanted to get on your bad side, but it all changed when you gave me your notebook. I misjudged you from the rumors I heard from our classmates, and I’m sorry about that. Second of all, I was surprised too to find that you like Shakespeare. Not many people around here do. I mean, the way Shakespeare elaborates on physical objects and abstract notions, expressed through the characters in the plays…it makes you think about the worldviews each character has and what you have. Even the language itself is what makes Shakespeare unique, because if we read it long enough to translate and understand the meanings behind the lines…it wouldn’t be so hard to get the mood and the tone of the author himself, and feel it.”

“Exactly!” Himchan exclaims as he leans his head back, resting it on Yongguk’s arm, glad that at least there is someone out there who appreciates the works of a playwright. He is unaware that he is physically close to Yongguk until he turns his head to look at him. “Finally, someone like you who understands how I feel…”

“And for the last question… you felt right. Thank you for entrusting me your story, Himchan, and I’m sorry that you and Jongup had to go through the past eight years without having parents around. They must’ve been the ultimate parents, for you to talk about them and what with their careers.” Yongguk lifts a hand of his arm that Himchan’s head is resting upon, to comb through Himchan’s hair. “I am so amazed with how you two have made it this far, how you have made everything possible for yourself and for Jongup. You could be my role model, and you got my support.”

**_Those eyes looking back at Himchan, show a mixture of joy, awe, anticipation and gentleness…_ **

**_That nose, though looking a bit awkward on his face, still gives Yongguk a masculine, charismatic appeal…_ **

**_The lips, thick and ever so close…_ **

**_…A warm sensation against Himchan’s lips…_ **

_Oh…shit._

Snapping to focus, Himchan pulls away from Yongguk, who is staring back at him in slight shock.

“Uh…”

“I…didn’t mean for that to happen,” Himchan moves away from Yongguk’s arm, scrambling to stand up. He looks down at Yongguk, “I’m sorry, Yongguk. I just need to be alone. Please leave. I’m sorry.”

“Uh…sure, yeah, no problem. No I’ll see myself out…we’ll work on our project later…” Yongguk scratches the back of his neck as he makes to stand up. Himchan steps back further, leaning against the wall, creating some distance between Yongguk and him. “Uhm…look, again, I’m really sorry about your parents. Just...know that I’m…still here for you guys, okay?” Himchan nods distractedly as a response. Yongguk continues, though feeling a little awkward, “Just…when you feel rea-“

“Just go, please, Yongguk,” Himchan crosses his arms, his eyes not wanting to meet Yongguk. Yongguk falters and nods, excusing himself out before thanking Himchan for the breakfast, the house tour, and at least being able to work on the project that day.

Yongguk leaves the house, almost running into a sweaty Jongup, who had just came back from a run.

“Oh hi, Yongguk-hyung! Good morning!” Jongup smiles at his older friend, taking out his earphones out of his ears before bowing. He catches Yongguk’s troubled expression. “Er…did something happen with you and hyung?”

“It’s nothing, Jongup-ah…I’ll see you later at school, ok? Have a good weekend.” Yongguk smiles at him, ruffling Jongup’s hair, not caring if it was almost glistening from the sweat and oil, before leaving.

 _Well…I did not expect that to happen…_ Yongguk thinks to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Half past noon, Kyungsoo gets out of the bathroom, having freshly showered and wearing casual attire for the rest of the day. He is wearing a white graphic tee shirt with an unbuttoned tan plaid long-sleeved shirt over, and denim jeans. Putting on his hearing aids, he is about to leave the room when he hears his cell phone vibrating. He looks to his desk and retrieves his cell phone, glancing at the caller ID that happens to be Jongin, flipping it open.

From: Kim Jongin  
To: Park Kyungsoo

_Kyungsoo-hyunngggg~ Good afternoon! ^_^; I’ll come by your place around 1PM, and we’ll go to this cool place near the Han River Park. They have some arcades and a movie theater._

“Kyunggie-yah!”

“Here, hyung!”

“No, come here!”

“Oh, okay!”

Kyungsoo replies to Jongin’s text quickly with an “Ok, sounds good :)” and, pocketing his cell phone, goes to Jonghyun’s bedroom via their shared bathroom to see Jonghyun standing there half-naked in his dark blue denim jeans.

“Uhhh…hyung? Why’re you…?”

“I can’t decide which shirt to wear,” Jonghyun points to his bed. Kyungsoo looks at the bed, and he sees four shirts laid out. There is a long-sleeved blue shirt, a white v-neck shirt with black netting on top, a casual black shirt that has some kind of enlarged version of a laundry tag with symbols and words, and then a forest green long-sleeved shirt with some buttons at the top.

“Uhh…and this is for…?”

“My date with Kibum! I wanna surprise him, but I don’t know which shirt to wear. I tried to ask Baekhyun, but Baekhyun already left to hang out with Chanyeol and Youngjae.”

“Oh, ok, hyung. Uhh…” Kyungsoo looks out the window, and notice that the sky is clearing up from a gloomy morning. He looks back at Jonghyun’s bed, and picks the green long-sleeved shirt. “That one looks fine, just wear a light jacket over it. Dark or white, it doesn’t ma…actually light tan would be fine.”

Jonghyun walks to his bed and puts on the shirt Kyungsoo selected before going over to Kyungsoo, giving him a hug. “Thank you, Kyungsoo-yah~” Jonghyun pecks Kyungsoo on the forehead while patting his head. “Now I’m gonna be gone until around 8PM, so don’t wait up for me. When is Jongin coming by?”

“He said he’d come by around 1PM.” Kyungsoo answers. Jonghyun nods and says, “Alright, you two are just gonna be hanging out and watching a movie?” Kyungsoo nods. “Really? You sure he’s not asking you for a date?”

That makes Kyungsoo stares at Jonghyun with a blank expression. “It’s just a movie. And a dinner. There’s nothing romantic about that that screams ‘I’M HAVING A DATE WITH KIM JONGIN’, hyung…”

Jonghyun makes an “eehh” sound. “Well, you never know~ I took Kibum to the movies a while back after we got to know each other more, and I confessed to him afterwards. We both knew it was a date.” Jonghyun winks at him, “I’ve seen both of your Romeos, you’re gonna have a hard decision, but remember, life is full of chances; take it lightly!~”

Kyungsoo shakes his head amusedly. Jonghyun has used that quote one too many times, but he knows Jonghyun is right with that quote. Life is too exciting to be serious; it is also too unexpected to be expected. Experimentation and exploration make life more appreciated.

There is a knock on the door and Jonghyun goes to get it. Kyungsoo follows him out of his bedroom and sees Jongin waiting for him outside the door. Jongin is wearing a navy blue v-necked shirt with khaki pants, his autumn jacket draped over his left arm. Kyungsoo realizes how handsome Jongin looks, and he starts to wonder to himself, _Is this going to be a date?_ He looks down at his clothes and thinks to himself, _Well, this is a pretty casual hang out…so…these clothes should be fine._

“Kyungsoo-yah, get out of here!” Jonghyun smiles at his brother. “Go have fun with Jongin-ah. I’ll be on my way out soon to surprise Kibum. Come on!”

“Wait, lemme get my wallet, hyung.” Kyungsoo rushes to his bedroom to get his wallet before putting on his shoes at the entry door.

“You look really stylish, Kyungsoo-hyung~” Kyungsoo is tying his shoes when he hears Jongin’s bold yet filled with aegyo comment, and he feels his heart melting as he looks up, smiling. He is not the only one, as Jonghyun coos at Jongin, “Aigoo, you’re cute. You and Taemin almost look alike, I swear…but you two are still cute.” He ruffles Jongin’s hair.

“Hyung! Not my hair…” Jongin whines and Jonghyun gives him a pointed look. His hair is styled messily, but swept to his right side.

Kyungsoo stands up and waves to Jonghyun, “We’ll be off now. I’ll text you when I’m back home. Baekhyun should be home later tonight, he told me earlier this morning, but I don’t know if he’ll be home before or after I get home. Have fun with Kibum-hyung!” Jongin bows to Jonghyun before waving as he joins Kyungsoo.

Once outside the apartment building, Kyungsoo and Jongin look at each other in a moment of awkward silence.

“Uhhmm…”

“Ermm…”

The two of them chuckle at their simultaneous lines of hesitation, before Jongin lets Kyungsoo talk.

“So…what do you have in mind, Jongin-ah?”

“Oh, do you wanna watch a movie first? Grab some popcorn? We can grab a small lunch at the movies before we go watch one, if we’re gonna have dinner later.”

“Sure,” Kyungsoo nods.

Jongin imitates Kyungsoo’s actions. “Let’s walk to the movie theater nearby. See what's good to watch.”

When the duo arrives at the movie theater, they grab a salad and some sandwiches to dine and share, before they head to the one of the theater booths.

“Hyung, why don’t you go ahead and pick which one you want to watch? I’ll pay for the tickets.”

Kyungsoo looks at his friend in disbelief, about to take out his wallet before putting it back into his pocket. “But…I’m the hyung. I should pay.”

“I’m the one taking you out, remember?”

“…” Kyungsoo stares at his friend, and he wonders if this is going to lead somewhere. But he shoves that thought to the back of his mind and turns around to look at the movie poster displays located around on walls of the cinema, posters of animated movies, graphic movies and more. He bites his lip in thought, _Which one should we watch?_

“What movie to watch…what movie should we watch…” Kyungsoo mutters to himself, staring at the poster of five people standing in formation. One has a green body build and is the biggest of them all. Kyungsoo cocks his eyebrow, shaking his head. His eyes continue to jump from poster to poster, often finding himself drawn to a simple poster nearby him. He reads the poster’s title.

_‘The Dark Knight Rises’. Hmm…_

Kyungsoo bites his bottom lip in thought, staring at the dark poster with the silver Batman symbol against a black background. _It looks so mysterious…I wanna find out more about this movie,_ Kyungsoo thinks to himself.

“Shall we find out for ourselves then? Two tickets for the ’The Dark Knight Rises’, hyung?” Kyungsoo hears Jongin says. His head whips around to see Jongin staring back at him with a gentle smile and a hand with two fingers up.

“Er…” Kyungsoo glances back at the poster. _Did I just voice that out loud?_ The inner Kyungsoo says. “Yeah, sounds good,” He nods. “But let me check if the movie theaters have captioning devices.”

“Oh, uh yeah of course, hyung.” Jongin is a little thrown offguard at the request, unaware of what they do. Both he and Kyungsoo walk up to the ticket booth and Kyungsoo inquires about the captioning devices. He gets shown a captioning glasses in reply and he is hesitant to accept it. It is too bulky in appearance and, according to the features mentioned by the booth attendant, the view can be a little rigid. He politely declines and decides to put up with watching the movie.

“You don’t have any other devices left?” Kyungsoo asks almost bluntly, with a tinge of politeness.

“No, I’m afraid not, sir. I apologize; the reflective captioning devices are all in use already, as are the handheld ones.” Kyungsoo is a little disappointed at the mention of those two devices, but he accepts the misfortune with resignation.

“We can go somewhere else if you want, or maybe get another showtime when one of the two devices are available.” Jongin is quick to notice his friend’s mood. “Is it possible that we can reserve one of those two devices for another showtime?”

“I’ll be right with you, gentl-”

“No no, it’s fine,” Kyungsoo insists. “I don’t want to spoil our fun with this small hiccup.”

“Okay…if you say so,” Jongin yields.

After Jongin has paid and they have walked into one of the many theaters in the building, Jongin, being a gentleman, lets his friend enter the theater booth first. Kyungsoo gives Jongin a curious stare but he takes it to be a simple polite respect towards the elders.

The theater room is one of the several largest rooms in the building, and they are lucky to get good movie viewing seats, considering that there were quite a huge amount of people watching the movie as well. They take their seats in the center, with the big movie screen at their eye level.

When the movie starts with an airplane hijack scene by a villain and several of his minions, Kyungsoo anticipates to hear some dialogue, but he gets shocked when he hears the villain talks.

 _Wha…that’s an awfully raspy voice…oh…I don’t think that mask will be taken off at any point of the movie._ Kyungsoo stares at the villain, his shoulders sagging a bit. The raspy voice continues to talk and Kyungsoo frowns, already disappointed with the movie. He is slowly starting to lose interest, a little annoyed that he cannot read the man’s lips nor can he understand a single bit of the dubbed sounds. Suddenly Kyungsoo jumps in his seat when there are explosions and screams in the movie as the plane is falling apart and the villain and his minions are getting away. Once everything has quieted down and the audience then sees a wake held for a man, Kyungsoo winces when he hears a loud ringing in his left ear. _Oh, not again…argh..owoW OW...OWTHATREALLYHURTS._

The high-pitched ringing gets louder and louder, lasting about eight seconds. Kyungsoo is pressing his hand against his ear, trying to block out the sound, his eyes closed and his face scrunching in pain. His body slowly recoils, moving away from the armrest on his left. Having experienced tinnitus often in his lifetime, he waits until it finally subsides.

Kyungsoo takes a deep breath, opening his eyes and feeling a little disoriented, and continues to watch the movie when Jongin taps his arm with his other hand, as their elbows are laying on the shared armrest.

“Hyung, are you okay? You looked like you were in pain…” Jongin whispers. Both guys are in the dark, but the light from the movie scene illuminates their faces slightly and Kyungsoo is left confused at what he hears, it is all a mumble of whispered sounds and soft hisses of air. _Crap, I can’t read Jongin’s lips…it’s too dark in here…_

Kyungsoo is left with his mouth slightly open, unsure of what to reply back to what he heard. “Uh…mm…” Uncertainty must have shown on Kyungsoo’s face, and Jongin somehow understood that Kyungsoo did not understand a word he had said, because Jongin then moves closer and whispers in his friend’s ear the same thing he said earlier, adding a simple touch of his hand on Kyungsoo’s forearm.

Kyungsoo does not deny that the distance between them is almost nonexistent as he can feel Jongin’s cheek lightly brushing against his cheek. As luck would have it, there are sudden loud chatters from the movie as Jongin whispers, and Kyungsoo misses out once again. He glances down at where his friend is resting his hand on his arm. When Jongin pulls back, Kyungsoo looks back up and realizes that he still did not hear what Jongin had said, partially due to the softness of Jongin’s whispers in contrast to the movie’s loud effects.

Kyungsoo can see Jongin raising his eyebrows with a soft smile, his facial expression displaying concern, thanks to the movie scene getting a bit brighter. He sees the male point to his own ear and then his ear; Kyungsoo guesses that Jongin is asking about his ear condition. Smiling at his friend’s genuineness, he nods before leaning closer to whisper in Jongin’s ear.

“It’s just tinnitus, it happens every now and then when I hear a drastic change of sounds, especially when the noises die down. Don’t worry too much about me, Jongin-ah. I’m fine.” Kyungsoo pats Jongin’s arm with his other hand. Jongin nods in understanding before they pull away and lean back on their seats, watching the movie. Jongin notices that Kyungsoo has not retracted his hand from his arm.

Whenever the villain in the movie, ‘Bane’ as he is called, talks, Kyungsoo finds himself losing interest before it gets picked back up when there are intense fights or dramatic story scenes. He hates it when he cannot read lips, especially when the mouths are covered; and that he cannot make out any distinct sounds from distorted voices. Strangely, it seems to be more of his concern than anything else in the movie, even when the camera is filming from behind a person as the said person is speaking. He feels his attention dwindling here and there, and just when he thinks the movie is about to end, there is a sinking feeling in his chest when a new scene appears.

_…How much longer?..._

Unaware to Kyungsoo’s eyes, Jongin has been often checking on him, noticing how fidgety Kyungsoo was in his seat, how his face obviously shows disinterest with a scowl, a look of confusion or a furrow of eyebrows, and how his _subtle_ sighs are audible enough for Jongin to hear. It is with a pang of guilt that he realizes that his friend is not like him, that he is a deaf person, as Kyungsoo calls himself. Glancing at the movie, his mind clicks as to why Kyungsoo is acting this way. Not sure of how to approach his older friend with that issue, he settles for asking him later. _Right now, there is a movie to watch, and might as well just focus on that for now,_ Jongin thinks.

“Well…that was a pretty good movie, for the most part,” Jongin comments to Kyungsoo as they join the audience filing out after the movie ended. Slowly nodding, Kyungsoo lets out an “mm-hmm”, averting his eyes for a brief moment before looking at Jongin. He hopes that Jongin does not catch that he was a bit uninterested with the movie story plot, though the graphics were nice to look at. He feels bad that it has led to this point, an awkward silent conversation between two friends in the middle of the cinema building.

“Did you like any parts of the movie, hyung?”

Kyungsoo’s eyes focus on Jongin, and his mind goes blank as he is left stammering. “Uh…er…well… Um…I…liked the…scene with the hole…w-where Bruce is trying to…um…climb to the top along the walls, and everyone’s watching him…you know, trying to succeed.” Kyungsoo breaks the eye contact.

“Ahh, I know what you’re talking about,” Jongin nods, before he starts walking, hoping that Kyungsoo gets the signal to start walking too. “I like that part too, especially with the flashbacks.”

“Although I’m not too sure what the little boy has to do with him,” Kyungsoo mutters as he walks next to Jongin. Jongin hears it and dares himself to ask.

“Hyung, were you…able to hear the movie?”

Kyungsoo stops in his tracks, staring at Jongin. Chuckling weakly, he averts his eyes. “Jongin-ah, wh…what do you mean? Yes, I was able to hear the movie. I have hearing aids, you know.”

Jongin facepalms at his own stupidity. “No, I meant…were you…able to understand it? There were scenes when I noticed lip-reading was impossible for you when the camera’s behind the person speaking, and when there are voice-overs, and when there’s annoying raspy voi-“

“Jongin-ah.”

Jongin stops his rambling, looking at his friend, who is staring back at him with a curious look on his face, his head tilted slightly.

“I enjoyed the movie, regardless if I was not able to grasp the dialogues. Sometimes the things in movies that come out of this” – Kyungsoo lifts his hand to mimic mouth talking – “don’t matter to me, I can ignore it and focus on the details of the scenes and the graphic effects.

“Although yes, it does bother me a bit...maybe a lot...that I cannot be able to understand every single thing that is going on in the movie, and how this lead to that, in terms of speech…” Kyungsoo explains, “but that’s life. We’re smart people. We can figure out what happened if we look around. I appreciate your concern, Jongin-ah, I really do.” Kyungsoo pats Jongin’s shoulder with his hand. “But I’m the oldest one here. No need to worry about it. At least we…sort of enjoyed the movie, hmm?”

Jongin bites his lip, feeling a bit ashamed before he nods. Kyungsoo gives him a smile, and Jongin does not realizes how stiff his posture was while Kyungsoo was talking to him. His body slackens as Jongin sighs internally in relief, _I almost messed up…_

“Shall we go to the park, then, hyung?”

\- - -

Jongin takes Kyungsoo to the Han River Park where they spend the rest of the afternoon walking around, and having fun at the playgrounds. Kyungsoo admires how playful Jongin can be, despite his cocky, bold personality at school. He can see how Jongin has been very caring, and it slightly bothers Kyungsoo. Jonghyun’s voice is nagging in his head, chanting, “ _it’s a date, it’s a date, it’s a date_.”

Meanwhile, Jongin admires how much fun and wonderful it has been hanging out with his friend that day, even if Kyungsoo often showed a mature side at campus. They finally sit on a bench near the Han River, exhausted from their shenanigans. Jongin lays his jacket on an open seat next to him, and both of them just stare out to the Han River. Kyungsoo notices how serious the atmosphere has become.

“Hyung?”

Kyungsoo looks at Jongin, slightly raising his eyebrows in a wide-eyed expectant look. Jongin takes a deep breath.

“I…had fun today,” Jongin is surprised at how the words came out of his mouth so easily, these are not the words he wanted to say. But Kyungsoo smiles and raises his hand to pick away lint and a few leaves from the back of Jongin’s shirt.

“Me too, Jongin-ah…me too. I’m glad we had a break to relax and have fun.”

Jongin looks over his back to see what Kyungsoo was picking at but Kyungsoo is already patting his shoulder, dusting it off. His mind gets distracted from the contact.

“W-w-wait, hyung”– Kyungsoo looks up to Jongin’s eyes before moving down to read Jongin’s lips – “that's not what I’m trying to say, although I did have fun. What I meant to say…i-is…” Jongin stutters, feeling butterflies in his stomach with the way he is trembling.

Kyungsoo stares at Jongin in concern, “Jongin-ah, are you okay?” He lowers his hand to pat one of Jongin’s thighs; he can feel it trembling slightly. He looks down to Jongin’s thigh and then back up at Jongin’s eyes.

Jongin takes a deep breath, “F-Fine. Yeah, I’m fine. Hyung, what I’ve been meaning to tell you is th-that…” Jongin’s throat does an involuntary hitch and he is left tripping over his words. However, Kyungsoo is patiently watching him, waiting for him to go on. Jongin feels a gentle squeeze on his thigh before he inhales sharply at the comforting sensation of his hyung’s hand. Jongin glances at Kyungsoo and sees no dirty intention in his eyes, but only pure concern.

 _How is it that I get like this when Kyungsoo-hyung touches me, but when I touch him, I feel bold and daring? This does not make any sense._ Jongin thinks to himself. _And how is it that Kyungsoo is oblivious to what he is doing to me?_

“Hyung…I like you,” Jongin blurts out without control, staring Kyungsoo in the eyes. Kyungsoo’s eyes widen and he stares back.

“I like you too?...”

“Wha…really? No wait, not like that, hyung. I like you. As in, I really really like _like_ you.” Jongin gulps as he holds his fierce gaze with Kyungsoo. “A lot.”

Jongin can see Kyungsoo’s eyes wavering, searching for honesty behind these words. He notices that Kyungsoo looks downward to where Kyungsoo’s hand is placed on his thigh.

“O-oh…was this all a date?” Kyungsoo lifts his hand from Jongin’s thigh. Jongin would be lying if he said he was not disappointed at the loss of contact. Jongin bites his lip.

“More or less, but it was a casual date, hyung…”

“And you like me…”

Jongin sighs deeply, mustering up the courage to be assertive. “Yes, hyung, I do. I know you treat me as a dongsaeng, but I want you to treat me more than that, hyung. I want you to treat me like a lover, a companion. I’m not asking for attention or anything. Ever since I first met you, I’ve been trying to control my urges to hold your hand, to kiss you, ‘cause you’re just so _you_ , hyung.

“I’ve been trying to make you see me as someone just for you, but you only saw me as a dongsaeng. I love that you did not hesitate to show your concern with me, and with other people. I want you to see me in a different light, Kyungsoo-hyung…I feel like everytime I’m with you at school, and today, it’s always an adventure, learning more about you as I fall into your world.”

Kyungsoo stares at Jongin, blown away by that confession, feeling overwhelmed. He blinks at Jongin, his mouth trying to form sounds.

“I…” Kyungsoo falters. “I…” He looks away, staring at the river.

Jongin deflates a bit as he sees Kyungsoo looking unsure of what to say. He braces for the seven dreadful words, _I don’t like you in that way._

“I’m sorry…Jongin-ah…this is all so…sudden. Can you…give me some time to think about it?” Kyungsoo says.

Jongin’s ears perk up at the change of direction. _Maybe there is hope for me,_ Jongin thinks. “O-okay, hyung,” he smiles. “I can do that. We’ll be okay, right?” He cannot help himself to bring up that question. Kyungsoo nods with a smile, “Of course. You’re still Jonginnie to me; to be honest, I like that I get to be called “hyung” for once.”

Kyungsoo looks down at Jongin’s hand, and makes a move to hold it, surprising Jongin. “This is okay for me, for now. You can cross that off your list. I don’t mind if you want to hold hands with me. The kissing will have to wait after I’ve given this some thought, okay?” Jongin nods. “Okay, come on, it’s getting dark. Let’s go eat dinner, shall we?”

The two head to dine at an Italian restaurant. Kyungsoo has spicy lasagna with a small salad, while Jongin has spaghetti with chopped prosciutto, basil, parmesan cheese, and meatballs. Their conversation revolves around getting to know more about each other, their habits and hobbies, their skills and life philosophies.

After they have eaten their dinner and dessert, they continue to talk for a while. There is such a natural ease of discussion between the two of them.

“Oh, how’s the project coming along? Did we decide to meet sometime soon or something like that?”

“Ah, yeah, Daehyun and I thought about working on it tomorrow on our own, but we might meet up at his place. Will you be able to make it?”

“I might…it depends on Kibum-hyung. We might go shopping for the café necessities, but I’ll let you know if I can make it to Daehyun-hyung’s place; just text me the address, and Kibum-hyung can take me there. I have some more notes already covered on Mount Halla to share with you two.”

“That’s good; don’t worry if you can’t make it. We’re still in the researching process right now but we’ll be taking out some notes for the presentation. We’ll leave some space for your own research too. Later on, we will meet together to work on writing that research paper as well as creating the presentation display. We don’t know if we’ll do PowerPoint or just a poster board, though I think PowerPoint seems effective.”

“Yeah, PowerPoint seems like a better idea,” Jongin nods. “But yeah, hyung, just let me know when is the next time we can meet.”

When the bill comes, Jongin insists to pay for both of them with his debit card, despite Kyungsoo’s protests. Having done so, they wait for the waiter to return with the receipt. While waiting, the discussion jumps from their school project to their residences, as Kyungsoo tells Jongin that he has noticed few weeks ago that Jongin’s house was gated inside with few other houses. Jongin then describes his house as a medium-sized modern style residence, and gives Kyungsoo a written tour, drawing the two floor layouts on a napkin with a pen that came with the bill case.

“So yeah, our uncle decided to install a dance room inside our house, with mirrors, and it also helps Kibum-hyung with his fashion mindset. It may seem funny that we have the dance room next to the library, but Uncle placed a really thick soundproofing wall in-between. I should have you come over sometime, what do you think?”

Kyungsoo looks at Jongin’s slightly messy drawing on a paper napkin that shows the layout of the house. He can easily picture the house in 3D just by looking at the layouts. Nodding in approval, he looks to Jongin and replies, “Yeah, I would love to see your house! It looks really cool, something we don’t see in typical houses.”

The waiter comes in and hands Jongin back his debit card. They thank the waiter and take their leave, before the waiter cleans up their table.

\- - -

Jongin and Kyungsoo are walking hand-in-hand, admiring the evening sky. Kyungsoo feels a little shiver run through his body due to the chilly breeze, and Jongin gently squeezes his hand, before letting go and lifting his arm to drape it around Kyungsoo’s shoulders and pull him gently closer to him.

Kyungsoo blinks at the gesture and looks up at Jongin with his wide eyes as they continue to walk. He can feel Jongin’s body heat emitting from the contact, and he would be lying if he said he did not like it. Jongin shrugs with a small smile. “You seemed a bit cold, so I’m just giving you a bit of warmth here.”

There is a light tint of pink on Kyungsoo’s cheeks as Kyungsoo looks away and smiles, uttering a soft “thank you”. He becomes self-conscious about his height; realizing how tall Jongin is compared to him.

When Kyungsoo and Jongin finally arrive at Kyungsoo’s apartment building, they instantly look over across the street to see Jongin’s house and a few others peeking out from above the wooden gate that stretches about six meters long, with one set of double doors in the middle of the gate.

It takes a few seconds for Kyungsoo to realize that he has been staring at the wooden gates, oblivious to Jongin calling his name softly. Jongin had shifted his attention to his hyung earlier with a slightly amused look on his face. Kyungsoo is shaken out of his thoughts when Jongin gives a light peck on the cheek, still having his arm over Kyungsoo’s shoulders. Kyungsoo’s hand instantly shoots up to touch where Jongin’s lips made contact with his skin.

Kyungsoo stares at Jongin in wonderment. “D…did you jus…Did you just kiss me?”

Jongin is biting his bottom lip, a grin itching to show as the corners of his lips twitch upwards. He lifts his draped arm for his hand to rake through Kyungsoo’s hair and replies calmingly, “Maybe, maybe not. I gave you a peck on the cheek, to be exact.”

**_Lazy raking of Jongin’s hands through Kyungsoo’s hair…_ **

**_Goosebumps on Kyungsoo’s arms and neck, and a shudder runs through his body once more…_ **

Kyungsoo closes his eyes at the sheer sensation of his head being petted, shivering a bit. He gives a content sigh, slightly cursing his head for being sensitive to the touch. He automatically leans closer to Jongin’s hand before realizing what he is doing, snapping his eyes open.

“J-Jong…Jongin…ah, s-stop. M-my head.” Kyungsoo feels Jongin’s hand withdraw quickly from his shoulder, and blinking, he notices Jongin looks a bit guilty, as if there is something in Kyungsoo’s head that he was not supposed to touch but he did anyway.

“It’s nothing wrong, it’s just…my head is a bit sensitive to the touch.” Kyungsoo softly chuckles, giving some cheeriness into Jongin’s mood. “Anyway, that was quite a move you did. Giving me a peck on the cheek, I would’ve bolted away if I knew that was coming. But,” Kyungsoo says as his hand looks for Jongin’s hand, and finally holding it, “…I liked it.”

Kyungsoo sees Jongin’s eyes flickering between his eyes, searching for any denial. Jongin starts to smile when Kyungsoo gives a gentle squeeze and leans closer to peck Jongin on the cheek, shocking him.

“That makes two of us.”

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday brings a cheerier morning sky to Seoul as Kyungsoo meets with Daehyun to work on the project without Jongin. Jongin texted Kyungsoo sometime around 11AM while Kyungsoo stood in front of the Jungs’ apartment door, saying that he could not join them because “Kibum-hyung wants to go window shopping now, and we _just_ got out from café shopping. Hyung wants to make Taemin-hyung, me, and Sehun be not only his escorts but victims to his fashionista skills”. Kyungsoo chuckles and wishes him good luck, remembering to notify Daehyun about Jongin’s update.

Daehyun and Kyungsoo begin to research on the project, starting off by deciding how to present the project, in Power Point or on a poster board, and then deciding what kind of information should be displayed. In the afternoon, after a long lunch with Sunhwa and Daehyun’s mother, Kyungsoo and Daehyun return to Daehyun’s bedroom to continue researching on Mount Halla for their project. Youngjae has been studying with JB at JB’s place for the whole day before Kyungsoo showed up at the Jungs’ place.

[WOW, LAST ERUPTION HAPPEN YEAR 1-0-0-7. “LONG-LONG-LONG-AGO” OLD! HAPPEN START TIME RANGE 5 YEARS 1-0-0-2 1-0-0-7] _(Wow, the last eruption happened in the year 1007. That’s a really long time ago! And it seems to have occurred progressively for 5 years, from 1002 to 1007)._ Daehyun is looking up on the Internet from his laptop as he signs to Kyungsoo, who is sitting on Daehyun’s bed. He looks back down to his paper and laptop as he takes note of the fact.

Kyungsoo lifts his hands, holding them for a few seconds to get Daehyun’s attention. Daehyun catches the gesture in the corner of his eyes and turns to look at Kyungsoo. [YEAH BUT ~(UNDERSTAND)~, WANT KNOW WHAT ~(TYPE)~ ERUPTION #IF POSSIBLE. ~nh(SOME CAN AFFECT)~ **CHANGE** CLIMATE CAN, ^(REMEMBER)^... REMEMBER WE RECENT LEARN MOUNTAIN fs(PI...NATOBO) sh(WRONG ME) fs(PINATUBO)? THAT, WHOA, BIG “IMPACT-STRIKE” WORLD, SPREAD-OUT+++ , TEMPERATURE-LOW 2 DEGREES C. ERUPT LONG-AGO, FINISH SEE PICTURE-PICTURE LAND LOOK-LIKE GIANT RIDGES. ^( _WHY_ )^ THAT fs(PYROCLASTIC)]. _(Yeah, but we want to know what type of eruption was Mount Halla, if we can. Some volcanic eruptions can bring about climatic changes, remember? Remember Mt. Pinatubo, one of the deadliest volcanoes that drastically affected the climate of the world, dropping the temperature about 2 degrees Celsius? When the volcano erupted in years past, we saw pictures of what seemed to be giant ridges surrounding the volcano. It had a pyroclastic flow.)_

[fs(PYROCL) ETC, THAT] Daehyun fingerspells at the exact same time Kyungsoo did, in response to his rhetorical Why question. _(Because it was from a pyrocla-however-it-is-spelled flow, yeah…what you said.)_

[THAT] _(Yep.)_

[KNOW++, UNDERSTAND++. FEEL JUST “CLARIFY”, KNOW? THAT OLD VOLCANO IN ns<JEJU> **OLD** . WE IN 20-12. LONG TIME SINCE] Daehyun smiles. _(I know I know, I just felt like pointing it out, you know? Still, that volcano is really old. We’re in 2012. It’s a long time ago.)_

**_Bzzzt….bzzztttt…_ **

Daehyun catches the slight movement with his eyes as Kyungsoo hears and sees his cell phone vibrating on Daehyun’s desk. Daehyun and Kyungsoo look at each other as Kyungsoo gets his cell phone.

[v(“?” WHO)v] _(I wonder who that could be…)_ Kyungsoo looks at his cell phone. [OH, ns <JOONMYEON><HYUNG> v(TEXT-ME “FOR-FOR”)v] _(Oh it’s Joonmyeon-hyung…I wonder why he’s texting me.)_ Daehyun shrugs.

From: Kim Joonmyeon  
To: Park Kyungsoo

_Hey, Kyungsoo-yah. It’s Joonmyeon, listen. I don’t know if you remember about the interview but today is my only possible time for an interview as the next few days will be quite busy. Do you mind coming over to my place today? You remember how to get here, right? If you want, I’ll come by and pick you up._

_Oh…the interview_ , Kyungsoo thinks to himself as he lowers his phone. He stares at Daehyun, who is looking puzzled.

[v(WRONG)v ^(EVERYTHING #OK)^] _(What’s up? Everything alright?)_ Daehyun notices Kyungsoo’s shocked expression.

[sh(NO NO, NOTHING WRONG) REMIND-ME INTERVIEW… BUT HE ONLY FREE TODAY. ^(ASK-ME #IF INTERVIEW CAN)... SORRY I THINK MAYBE SOON FINISH, “GOTTA-GO”] _(Nah, it’s nothing serious. He was reminding me about the interview, and told me he’s only free today. He asked me to do the interview with him. I’m sorry I think I have to kinda cut this short today…)_ Kyungsoo makes an apologetic face but Daehyun waves it off, lips pursed but his face completely expresses assurance.

[HEY FINE++ *Daehyun smiles* GO INTERVIEW WITH HIM, ns<JOONMYEON><HYUNG>. **PLENTY** TIME US-THREE WORK WILL. sh(NOT PROBLEM) HEY] _(No no, it’s fine! Don’t worry. Just go have your interview with Joonmyeon-hyung. There’ll be plenty of time for the three of us to work. Not a problem.)_ Daehyun chuckles lightly.

With his cell phone in hand, Kyungsoo thanks him and gathers his stuff into his backpack. He waves goodbye to Daehyun and to the two female Jungs, who are seated in the living room watching a drama, as he passes by them and bows to them before he exits the apartment. He takes out his phone to call Joonmyeon, informing him that he knows how to get to his place and to give him ten minutes.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

When Kyungsoo arrives at Joonmyeon’s place, he still gets awed when he walks up to the mansion. He knocks on the door, and Joonmyeon answers.

“Hello Kyungsoo, welcome back. Baekhyun and Chanyeol just left to go shopping for groceries. They’ll be back within an hour or so. Would you like something to drink?”

“Oh, okay. Thanks for letting me know, hyung. No thank you, by the way. I just had a big lunch earlier.” Kyungsoo enters with a smile as Joonmyeon steps aside. “How long will this interview take, by the way?”

“Oh, no longer than an hour, depending on your responses,” Joonmyeon teases, earning chuckles from Kyungsoo. They make their way up the stairs and Joonmyeon leads Kyungsoo to his room. Kyungsoo is amazed when he sees a big horizontal window opposite him, and underneath the window, a single bookshelf over an exposed closet rack; two shelves are placed on either side of the closet. There are two strips of window glass on Joonmyeon’s opposite walls, one looking towards the Han River, and another looking towards the metropolitan city. Another large window is above Joonmyeon’s desk, which is located at the foot of the bed.

“Please take a seat on my bed. I’ll get my paper of questions and we’ll get started.”

Joonmyeon sits down on his desk chair, retrieving his notepad from his backpack, as Kyungsoo takes off his backpack and rests it against the desk, before making himself comfortable on Joonmyeon’s bed.

“So this interview is based on your…disability, if it is safe for me to say so.” Joonmyeon holds out one of his hands towards Kyungsoo as a sign of assurance. Kyungsoo nods in understanding. “And I would like to hear your thoughts about what exactly does can a deaf person do, with all stereotypes put aside. I am aware that deaf persons can do anything except hear, but I would like to know the potentials that deaf people have that differentiate them from hearing people. Some of the questions may require some thinking, and you’re free to take as long as you want. Some of the questions will be easy for you to respond in a flash. Will that be alright with you?”

Kyungsoo nods, “It’ll be fine with me…although, you could have asked Daehyun for that, though. He would prove himself to be a better candidate than I…”

“Ah, but we were only entitled to interview one person, and someone who we know through other people. Since I knew you through Chanyeol, you were the only possible candidate for my topic. Other classmates of mine have their own interview topics, so with mine, you’re the best candidate for it.” Joonmyeon smiles.

“Oh okay, that’s fine then. I understand,” Kyungsoo smiles softly. “Shoot the questions, I’m all ears.” Kyungsoo blinks, realizing he had just made an unintentional pun. Joonmyeon bursts out chuckling and Kyungsoo relaxes a little more.

“Alright, so first question: What’s your name?” Joonmyeon snickers as he asks.

Kyungsoo gives an ‘are you serious?’ look. Joonmyeon, still smiling, raises his eyebrows and tilts his head, almost as if he is saying, _‘It’s an interview, what do you expect?’_

“You know my name, hyung.”

“Ahh, shall I write that down, then?” Joonmyeon starts writing down Kyungsoo’s response. He earns a gawking stare from Kyungsoo and a breathy comment, “Hyung, you wouldn’t dare!”

Joonmyeon writes as he says it out loud, “ _’I am interviewing a person with a mysterious alias name: ‘You know my name, hyung’. It makes me wonder ho-_ “

“Ok ok ok, _fine,_ ” Kyungsoo stammers. Joonmyeon smiles and reveals an empty notepad to Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo chuckles and smiles in spite of himself, “My name is Park Kyungsoo.”

Once Joonmyeon and Kyungsoo got through the easy questions – “Did you make those up, hyung? Why would you even write them down, ask me, and get those answers that you already know?” Kyungsoo whines, and Joonmyeon replies, “Standard procedure, Kyungsoo-yah” – they are finally getting into the deeper and more serious questions about Kyungsoo’s deafness.

“So you say that you came from a musical background, explain on that part. Do you sing? Play music?”

“Ah, I sing and I used to play the violin…” Kyungsoo says shyly, and Joonmyeon whistles, commenting, “That’s quite a tricky instrument for everyone, especially you, to play. How long have you been playing it?”

“About…a decade? Something like that.” Kyungsoo earns a silent “wow” from Joonmyeon. “I kinda took a break from it after I graduated from high school. I don’t play as often, but I play when I can for leisure.”

“Now, was it hard learning how to play the violin, what with getting the right notes on the fingerboard?”

“It was, I didn’t have a private tutor until high school, actually. The whole time, I had been practicing and disciplining myself to train and know the notes by position memorization and to be confident in playing them. Although I may struggle sometimes with the intonation, I compensate that with my rhythm skills and high fluency in music reading. I like to read scores and hum the rhythms even if I don’t get the right notes, just for fun. Also, I have a sensitivity to vibration, so sometimes when I play the violin against another violin that is in tune, I can tell when my violin is out of tune or not. My hearing aids help me and my brain hear and detect the difference in pitches as well.”

“Wow, that’s quite impressive,” Joonmyeon says as he writes it down.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo says breathily. “Thanks.”

The two of them continue like this, asking and answering, for the next forty-five minutes, when Joonmyeon brings up several questions that are off-topic, unbeknownst to Kyungsoo.

“So now that you’ve said that you yourself can sign and talk, what about your love life? What do you see in a partner that you wish to be with? What kind of traits do you want the person to have, in order to have a suitable relationship with you?”

Kyungsoo has been holding his breath from the moment he heard “love life” from Joonmyeon’s mouth, and studies Joonmyeon as he questions Kyungsoo. Joonmyeon seems to act natural, as if these questions were nothing but casual topics brought into the discussion. Kyungsoo breathes out through his nose, his eyes quickly darting anywhere but Joonmyeon’s face.

“Er…erm…I…ah…it’s a bit…complicated,” Kyungsoo stammers. Joonmyeon’s interest piques up. “Oh? Do tell.”

“N-no, I’d rather not say but…uhm…can you repeat the other questions? Something about partner?”

Joonmyeon nods, although on the inside, he feels a bit dejected upon hearing Kyungsoo’s denial. He repeats the questions and Kyungsoo nods.

“Okay so what I see in a partner…hmm…well if the person is Deaf, I’d think we’d have no problem with communication and everything, our culture and such. It would all work out well. But if the person is hearing, there are three things I search in a person. The thing of utmost importance that I want from the person is patience, because there will be times that miscommunication will happen between us and he or she needs to understand that I cannot grasp every single word they say, even though I am an excellent lip reader. I can catch about 80% of what they say, but it depends on how noisy the situations are.

“The second is sense of humor, because I don’t want to have any awkwardness between us, with his hearing world, and my mixture of hearing and deaf cultures. I also like someone who is gentle and yet assertive, because I too am gentle and assertive. I can be independent when I want but it doesn’t hurt to have company.” Kyungsoo looks at Joonmyeon as he answers. Remembering something in his response that kind of gave away his preference, he hastily adds, “I mean, his or her…hearing world.” Kyungsoo blushes as they hold their gazes.

“Ahh, sounds like me,” Joonmyeon nods slowly.

“Ye- I mean, no. I mean…wait, what.” Kyungsoo averts his eyes, unaware that he is slightly blushing. “Never mind. It’s a bit complicated…like I said.”

“Do you want this to be off the records?”

Kyungsoo looks at Joonmyeon in the eyes, and gulps. He suspects something is up.

“S-s…sure.”

Joonmyeon puts aside his notepad on his desk and joins Kyungsoo on his own bed. He looks at Kyungsoo with a genuine look on his face.

“So how is it complicated? Well, tell you what. You can tell me why your love life is complicated and if you want, you can tell me who these people are…and I’ll tell you about mine. It’s still off the records.”

Kyungsoo looks at Joonmyeon. “W-well…er…I’ve been told by some friends that I have…two…Romeos.” He blushes. “And…I kinda went on a date with one…of them, not that I knew it was a date because apparently it was just a casual hang out…but then he confessed. And now I’m not so sure.

“I…have this weird feeling with this one…other…” – Kyungsoo sneaks a furtive glance at Joonmyeon – “person and then I feel the same with the person I just talked about…and I don’t know if this is love or just attraction or what…”

“Who do you love, or who are you attracted to, first?”

Kyungsoo fidgets in his seat. “You…already know this person…” _Oh wait, I shouldn’t have said that,_ Kyungsoo thinks to himself as he freezes in his seat. _Should’ve said “the guy from yesterday” or something…_

Joonmyeon is surprised at the change of direction. “Hm…and do I know the other person as well?” Kyungsoo nods, still not looking at Joonmyeon.

“Ah…will I figure this out by myself?” Kyungsoo sheepishly nods. “Hm…alright, then I will figure this out. Do you want to hear mine, though?”

“…U-um…sure…” Kyungsoo is taken aback at the sudden change of topic.

“I grew up with this guy for a long time now, his brother and my brother knew each other for some time before I met him. I grew to have feelings for him in a way that I wanted to be with him wherever we went, be there for him when he needed me. The feeling was...is mutual. I wanted to be more than a hyung, because this guy seriously got me wrapped around his finger. He’s pretty adorable, I must say…even if he denies it,” Joonmyeon bows his head, smiling at the memory. Kyungsoo nervously looks at him.

“But then I saw another guy…and my brother knew this person before I met him. He’s quite cute, actually. It was a bit unfortunate that I made a fool out of myself when I first met him…but it was compensated with my manners. Even though I still have my heart for the other guy, I still have some heart for this one too. There’s something about him that gives me a soothing yet happy feeling. With the other guy, I felt happiness too but a loving, nurturing kind of happiness.” Joonmyeon looks at Kyungsoo, and Kyungsoo realizes just whom Joonmyeon is talking about.

“You mean…to say…your first one is…”

“Kim Jongin.”

Kyungsoo stares at him in shock, before looking away to stare at his backpack leaning against the desk. _But Jongin already confessed to me yesterday, did Joonmyeon know about that?_ Kyungsoo broods.

“The other…” Joonmyeon continues.

“…Is me,” Kyungsoo finishes blankly, remembering their first encounter.

“Am…am I one of your two Romeos?” Joonmyeon asks hesitantly. Feeling a little anxious, Kyungsoo hesitates to respond before he scrambles out of bed and gets his backpack.

“Wait!” Joonmyeon scrambles out of bed and grabs Kyungsoo’s upper arm with an unexpected gentleness before Kyungsoo can leave out the door. “Kyungsoo-yah, are you okay?” Kyungsoo glances down at Joonmyeon’s grip, not looking back at him.

“I’m sorry, hyung, I need to go.” Joonmyeon releases his grip and Kyungsoo leaves.

“Well, okay…thanks for the interview,” Joonmyeon hurries out of his bedroom to stand against the railing, watching Kyungsoo go down the stairs. “Another time, then?” He asks hopefully.

Kyungsoo leaves and just shuts the door without a word, Joonmyeon stares at the door a bit dejected.

 _Is this some kind of game I’m being forced to play, to flirt with one behind the other’s back and do it again with the other person?_ Kyungsoo frets as he heads home.

_...Or is this a crossroads I have to face, to choose one over the other in the end?_


	21. Surprise!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyungsoo gets pulled into a love triangle...but it turns out that it isn't so bad as it seems.
> 
> Jongdae gets an unexpected surprise.

“And I have no idea what to do, guys, seriously. I don’t.”

Kyungsoo looks between Baekhyun, Chanshik, Chanyeol, Daehyun, and Dasom. Kyungsoo has been avoiding Joonmyeon and Jongin for the past few days, because he has no idea how to approach them without feeling torn and conflicted about his feelings for the two of them. He does not want to get in the middle of a love triangle, although he is technically already in it.

“Wait, so Jongin confessed to you last week…and you weren’t sure about it. Then the next day, Joonmyeon-oppa admi-…well, _sort of_ confessed to you that he likes both you and Jongin…” [WAIT, ns<JONGIN> CONFESS LAST-WEEK, YOU sh(SURE) NEXT DAY, ns<JOONMYEON><OPPA> ADMIT WAIT “SORT-OF” ADMIT LIKE YOU AND ns<JONGIN> v(BOTH)v] Dasom explains as she signs. Dasom is getting better with her signing skills, and so has Chanshik, under the guidance of Daehyun and Kyungsoo.

“…and Jongin doesn’t know what Joonmyeon-hyung is feeling for him after all these years?” [v(AND ns<JONGIN> NOT-KNOW ns<JOONMYEON><HYUNG> HAVE FEELING FOR HIM SINCE)v] Chanshik finishes Dasom’s sentence, feeling confused.

“Jongin’s definitely got hyung wrapped around his finger, how could he not see that?” Chanyeol says, unaffected by the five people that are signing and talking.

“Well, _maybe_ …Joonmyeon-hyung is planning to conf…no…wait I don’t know, guys.” [MAYBE, HE PLAN CONFESS TO....NO…NOT-KNOW]

Baekhyun looks at Kyungsoo sadly. “Kyungsoo-yah, I’m sorry. I don’t know how you’re gonna work this out. I think it’s best if you just let them work it out and see when is a good time for you to join in.” [HEY, SORRY. NOT-KNOW HOW YOU “WORK-IT-OUT”. THINK BEST LEAVE-THEM-ALONE SOLVE, YOU “STEP-BACK” UNTIL RESOLVE PARTICIPATE]

Kyungsoo shoots a slightly exasperated look towards his brother. “Which is what I have been doing for the past few days…Any other suggestions?” [THAT SINCE SEVERAL DAY DO THAT…^(IDEAS++)^ YOU-ALL]

The group members shake their heads, at loss for words. Kyungsoo sighs.

“Well, at least I’m not involved in some love polygon, like a hexagon, or a pentagon…think about how complicated that would be.” [WELL, “AT-LEAST” NOT INVOLVE LOVE SHAPE, SIX-GROUP, FIVE-GROUP…THINK WORSE COMPLICATE]

Kyungsoo looks over across the plaza and he sees Joonmyeon and Jongin sitting next to each other with their usual group, and he can sense a tinge of awkwardness between the two of them, even though they are getting along just like they have always been.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

**_Sounds of cars are passing by…_ **

**_Chatter of people filling Jongdae’s ears…_ **

**_Two distinct voices are heard, one seems to be trailing off into the silence and another is communicating with him…_ **

Jongdae is walking arm-in-arm with Luhan, and Yixing walks with Zitao when the two duos converse about their schedules and other things that have happened outside of class. Yixing is holding Jongdae’s sweater and walking stick in his arms, since he offered to take them when Jongdae was feeling a bit hot in the weather.

“Jongdae-yah, watch your step, we’re getting on the elevator,” Jongdae hears Luhan say.

“Okay,” Jongdae says as Luhan leads him into the moving cable box. He hears Luhan whisper to him, “There are a few other people in the elevator.” Jongdae nods and makes himself comfortable in the semi-crowded elevator box, his arm brushing against a stranger’s arm. He hears the doors closing after a ding, and it is moments before the elevator moves up to Jongdae’s floor.

During the ride, Jongdae can smell Yixing’s cologne in front of him, and his mind starts to drift out of focus while chatting with Luhan. He feels Luhan standing in front of him, and two unknown persons on either side of him with their bodies nudging him due to the movement of the elevator. When the elevator makes a beeping sound to signal the passengers of an arrival at a floor and the doors open, Yixing and Zitao exit the elevator first as Luhan tugs on Jongdae’s arm and leads him out. They then make their way to Jongdae’s apartment and knock on the door. There is no reply for a few seconds before the door opens to reveal Sunyoung.

“Oh hi, Jonggie-oppa!” Jongdae recognizes the cheery, girlish voice to be his sister. “Yifan-ge and Minseok-oppa are out doing some grocery shopping. Come on in, oppas!”

“Ah, it’s okay, Sunyoung-ah. We’re kind of tired from dance practice and Zitao’s gotta walk a bit further to his home,” Luhan says apologetically. “But thanks for the invite! We’ll stop by some time later, ok? Bye, Jongdae-yah! We’ll see you tomorrow!”

Jongdae smiles and bids goodbye to his friends. He enters the apartment, feeling Sunyoung tugging him inside. He remembers the path to his room, and Sunyoung trails behind. “Oppa! How was your day?”

“It was good, Sunyoung-ah,” Jongdae says, his voice sounding a little tired due to his body feeling some exhaustion from the workload in school. He has his hand out to feel for the wall and counts the steps toward his room. “Math is becoming increasingly difficult, but I just need some more time to practice and review.” He finally gets to his door and opens it. “Let me go change and I’ll be right back out.”

As Jongdae is changing his shirt, he realizes that he has forgotten a few things: his sweater and walking stick. With his shirt drawn up to his neck, resting around his shoulders and leaving his chest exposed, he feels around for his backpack and checks it, only to feel nothing familiar to his hands. He racks his brain to remember where he had put them.

**_CREAAAKKK…_ **

Jongdae whirls around to the source of the sound, his hands withdrawn out of his backpack.

“Hello?” There is no response.

For the longest time, Jongdae waits for any movement, any noise. Nothing. He shuffles around, his back facing his bed. He frowns to himself.

“Is anyone there? Answer me, ple-”

**_All of a sudden, Jongdae hears faint steps, and he feels a slight breeze…_ **

**_…And then warm lips lightly brushing against Jongdae’s, sending sparks throughout his body, increasing in ampere as the pressure increases from the lips._ **

**_Just like a snap of fingers, the electric sensation zaps out and the lips leave him._ **

Blinking, Jongdae reaches his hand out quickly to get anyone, but the person was too quick, and he could only catch air. He has not heard his door close but he is once again met with the silence. He touches his lips, feeling the warm, moist imprint.

“Yixing-ge?” Jongdae says hopefully.

\- - -

Earlier, Yixing had only reached the elevator with Luhan and Zitao when he realized he was holding Jongdae’s walking stick and jacket under his own jacket. Slapping his forehead, he told Luhan and Zitao that he would be right back because he had to return the items.

He knocked on Jongdae’s apartment door, and Sunyoung once again answered the door. She invited Yixing in, informing him that Jongdae was changing. Yixing smiled at her and told her to not tell Jongdae he was here, just to be a bit playful. She smiled and pretended to zip her lips, as she watched Yixing creep his way to Jongdae’s room.

Once arrived at Jongdae’s room, Yixing opened the door softly and made one step into the room when his foot accidentally landed on a creaking wooden floor piece.

**_CREAAAAKKK…_ **

Grimacing, Yixing watched as Jongdae, who seemed to be in the middle of changing his shirt while looking for something on his bed, turned around to the door. Yixing goggled at the sight of Jongdae’s naturally lean and toned body, and blushed when he realized how long he had been staring at Jongdae’s body.

 _Wow, Jongdae’s looking quite the man with his body. Even I worked out to get my body toned, but he has a natural body muscle tone. Wait, what am I even thinking?_ Yixing shook his head to clear his thoughts.

“Hello?”

Yixing held his breath, careful not to make any sound. Lifting his foot to step on another wooden piece that he hoped will not make any creaking noises, he moved his way gingerly to place the stick and sweater on Jongdae’s desk. Jongdae was still looking towards the door, his hands hanging limply on his sides. Yixing went back the way he came in, while shamelessly scanning Jongdae’s torso. Before he leaves out the door, he turned around to see Jongdae and decided to do something that he had never done before, but had often thought about it.

“Is anyone there? Answer me, ple-”

Gathering his courage to do what he had always wanted to do for years, Yixing walked up to Jongdae and gave him the gentlest kiss he could give. His lips brushed faintly on Jongdae’s lips and before he knew it, he was pressing his lips against Jongdae’s. He pulled away quickly, avoiding Jongdae’s hand as it reached up to grab him, and backed out of the room, shocked at his daring action. Jongdae was blinking with shock on his face.

Yixing left quickly, hastily bidding goodbye to a confused Sunyoung. It was all too soon for him to leave, because he missed the question that Jongdae has asked to the empty room.

_“Yixing-ge?”_

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

It has been a week since Jongin confessed his feelings to Kyungsoo, when on a Saturday afternoon, Jongin is asked to meet Joonmyeon at a café.

Joonmyeon is seated at the table by the window, waiting when he sees Jongin pass by, looking up to read the café banner sign. Joonmyeon knocks on the glass and Jongin startles before noticing it is just Joonmyeon. Jongin smiles and waves as Joonmyeon beckons him to come in.

Jongin enters the café, and although it has a different atmosphere to ChaKeo Corner, he likes the nice, laidback ambience. He spots Joonmyeon and joins him near the window.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“Nah, I’m good. I have water with me.”

“Same,” Joonmyeon nods, picking up his reusable water bottle that was under his chair. “So Jongin-ah, how have you been? I know we haven’t been really…talking these past few days. We’ve had our busy classes, but during lunch, I can’t help but feel this strange distance between us, and…I want us to get closer again. Kind of like the old times…” Jongin looks a bit puzzled at Joonmyeon’s request, but he does not deny that there has been some awkwardness between them. He frowns in thought as to why have they been awkward with each other, when Joonmyeon asks him a question.

“How’s your dance practice coming along?”

“Uhm…it’s going well. Sehun and I are feeling pretty confident about our routine.”

“That’s good. Have you talked with Kyungsoo lately?”

“Ne?” Jongin is thrown off guard with Joonmyeon’s sudden change of topic.

“Have you talked with Kyungsoo lately?” Joonmyeon repeats.

“Er…no…actually, come to think of it, I haven’t. It’s like he’s been ignoring me for almost a week,” Jongin ponders.

“He’s been ignoring me too…I was wondering if you knew why?”

Jongin remembers last Saturday after their date, how Kyungsoo was a bit uncomfortable after Jongin’s confession. He wonders if this is the reason why Kyungsoo has been avoiding him, but as for Joonmyeon’s case, he feels clueless why Kyungsoo would avoid him.

“”Listen, Jongin, there’s another reason why I called you here. See,” – Jongin takes a swig of his water bottle, watching Joonmyeon – “I have a confession I need to make.”

Jongin freezes as he is about to put down his water bottle. He gulps the water down. “What happened, hyung?”

“It’s not that kind of confession. You see, you and I, we’ve been growing up together for a long time, right? I’ve been with you through thick and thin, and I’ve been there for you, you know that, right?” Jongin slowly nods, wondering where this is going.

Joonmyeon smiles at Jongin, “I have been a good hyung to you, and perhaps even more, I don’t know.”

“Of course, you have been more than a good hyung to me. You’re sometimes strange, I gotta admit, but I like how you care about me without saying anything. I like how you would check up on me, whether I knew it or not. I feel a special bond when I’m with you, hyung.” Jongin places his hands on the table, their palms resting on the surface of the table.

Joonmyeon chuckles. “I hope that bond can strengthen more over time.” He looks at Jongin, who is still looking a little confused.

“Jongin-ah, I like you. Not as a hyung, but more than that…”

Jongin freezes in his seat, stunned. He thinks back to his confession to Kyungsoo, “ _I want you to treat me more than a dongsaeng…_ ” and he feels guilty. _What if Kyungsoo didn’t want to? What if Joonmyeon is the one for me? But he treated both of us almost intimately, and we had little boundaries between us, Joonmyeon-hyung and I._

Joonmyeon notices how silent Jongin is and he feels slightly awkward, thinking that he has confessed for a lost cause.

“Well…I’ll wait to hear what you have to s-“

“Hyung, I…already confessed to someone… In fact, I already confessed…to Kyungsoo.” Jongin draws some odd shapes with his hands on the table surface, feeling really ashamed and wishing he could just crawl into a hole and die.

Joonmyeon blinks in surprise, unexpected with the news. “Oh? When did you confess?”

“Last week on this very same day…I fell for him that first day when we met at the cafeteria, when I told you that I was ‘observing his behavior’ or something like that…”

“Ah…I thought so. What did he say?”

Jongin explains about their date last Saturday. He ends with a tentative thought, “…I honestly don’t remember but I think he said that he needed some time to figure it out… Hyung I don’t know what he meant…because we were holding hands afterwards and we even had a great time at dinner…” He leaves out the detail about the peck on the cheeks.

Joonmyeon sighs, nodding. He now knows why Kyungsoo has been ignoring the two of them for a while. “Jongin-ah…there’s something else you should know.”

“What is it, hyung?”

“It’s not just you that I’m falling for. It’s also Kyungsoo.” Joonmyeon explains about the interview and how it ended that Sunday. He adds that he was not aware that Jongin and Kyungsoo had gone on a casual date the previous day. Adding two and two together, he now knows why Kyungsoo has been hesitant with replying his interview questions about his love life.

“Oh…wow. That’s making this whole thing complicated.” Jongin fidgets in his seat, turning his eyes away from Joonmyeon. “It’s like we’re in this love triangle or something…”

Joonmyeon chuckles, “You’re right. We are in a love triangle. Jongin-ah.” He reaches for Jongin’s hands, and Jongin stares at their intertwined hands. “You know how much I love you? How much I care about you?” Jongin blushes as he nods. “Do you love me the same way I do? Don’t lie, I know how you’ve been touchy with me sometimes.” Jongin bows his head deeper, not wanting to look at Joonmyeon in the eye as he nods again. Joonmyeon snickers again, raising one of his hands to ruffle Jongin’s hair.

“But hyung, I also love Kyungsoo. You love him, too. How are we going to work this out? We can’t fight over him because I don’t want to lose you. Hyung, I don’t want to fight with you,” Jongin whines, looking up at Joonmyeon.

“Hey, no, Jongin-ah, we’re not gonna fight, not now, not ever,” Joonmyeon moves his chair to shuffle closer to Jongin.

Jongin averts his eyes, “I can’t help but feel like that there may be a day that we’ll be fighting over something or someon-“

“Hey, look at me,” Joonmyeon raises Jongin’s chin with his finger, bringing Jongin to look at him. “We’re not fighting. Right now, we’re not fighting. Not even in the future will we be fighting. We can make this work. The three of us. You’ll see.”

Jongin stares into Joonmyeon’s honest eyes and he can see the pure genuineness in them, his head nodding with little movement. Joonmyeon shifts his hand from Jongin’s chin to pat Jongin’s cheek before resting on Jongin’s neck.

“Come on, let’s get Kyungsoo to meet us at my house. Looks like we need to tell him something.” The older male takes back his hands to start cleaning up the table, and gets himself ready to leave, waiting for Jongin to do the same. They leave the café and make their way to Joonmyeon’s house, hand in hand, and Joonmyeon texts Kyungsoo.

From: Kim Joonmyeon  
To: Park Kyungsoo

_Hey Kyungsoo, I hope everything’s alright with you. Listen, I’d like to get the interview finished as soon as possible, please. Is it okay if you came to my place today?_

It is not until 15 minutes later when Joonmyeon and Jongin arrive at the footsteps of Joonmyeon’s house that Joonmyeon gets Kyungsoo’s reply.

From: Park Kyungsoo  
To: Kim Joonmyeon

_Alright, hyung. I think I need to tell you something, too._

Joonmyeon raises his eyebrows at the text. Jongin catches Joonmyeon’s look of surprise and he looks over Joonmyeon’s shoulder to read Kyungsoo’s text.

“Do you think he might be telling us what we might be telling him?”

“I don’t know; it’s possible. But it could be something different, perhaps pertaining to the interview.”

\- - -

Fifteen minutes later, Kyungsoo knocks on the familiar grey door of the mansion; it is the third time he has been to the place.

The door opens to reveal Jongin.

Kyungsoo stares, and makes to turn around. _What is Jongin doing in Joonmyeon’s house? Was Joonmyeon lying to me?_

“Soo-hyung, wait!” Jongin scrambles to grab Kyungsoo’s wrist. Kyungsoo falters when he hears the title ‘hyung’ added to his name. _Darn that title for making me go soft._ “Hyung, don’t go, please. W-we…we need to tell you something,” Jongin begs, lightly tugging on Kyungsoo’s wrist.

Kyungsoo looks back at Jongin with a mixture of confusion and shock. Allowing himself to be pulled into the house, he sees Joonmyeon on the second floor landing, looking down at him with a small smile.

“Hyung, hear us out, okay?” Jongin drags Kyungsoo up the stairs. Kyungsoo’s mind turns into mush every time Jongin calls out to Kyungsoo ‘hyung’ with his soft voice. His feet are doing the work for him as he walks up the stairs, staring wide-eyed at Joonmyeon, while being pulled by Jongin.

Once Kyungsoo reaches the second floor landing, Joonmyeon moves towards him and places a hand on his shoulder. Together with Jongin, Joonmyeon escorts Kyungsoo to his own room and they settle down on Joonmyeon’s bed. Kyungsoo makes a spot for himself, distancing himself from his Kim friends.

“The interview is not gonna happen today, is it?” Kyungsoo shoots the question to Joonmyeon, who has the decency to look back at him and shakes his head firmly. He sighs, “I knew it…”

Jongin looks between Kyungsoo and Joonmyeon, feeling some sort of tension in the air.

“Kyungsoo-hyung, do you remember…”

“Kyungsoo-yah, see here…”

Jongin and Joonmyeon look at each other with smiles creeping on their faces at the coincidence, before looking back at Kyungsoo, whose face remains expressionless, staring back at them.

Joonmyeon clears his throat and allows Jongin to go first.

“What I’m trying to say…i-is that…today…Joonmyeon-hyung and I… w-we um…confessed to each other, and well…erm...” Jongin trails off, blushing out of shyness and embarrassment. Joonmyeon raises one of his hands to rub Jongin’s back soothingly. “You do it, hyung.”

“This whole week without you has given us some thoughts and time to realize how much we care for each other, Jongin and I. Just recently, a few hours ago, I confessed to Jongin.”

“Did you now?” Kyungsoo asks, the bite was soft but it was still a firm bite in his voice.

The eldest male continues on unfazed by the interruption. “....I told him that although I like you a lot, I also like him. Jongin told me that he had already confessed to you, and it was only with you he thought he could make something work, because he had not wanted to ruin the friendship that he has with me. You didn’t want to risk having a relationship with me because you didn’t know if this could work between us.” Joonmyeon turns to check on Jongin, who nods with a somber expression.” Looking back at Kyungsoo, he sees the puzzled look on the younger male’s face.  “I know it sounds ridiculous, but that’s Jongin’s way of thinking.” He briefly glances at the youngest, who now looks abashed. “We cleared up that misunderstanding between us, and with that out of the way, we realized that we both like not just you but each other too. A lot.” Kyungsoo, who has been shifting his focus between the space between Joonmyeon and Jongin, as well as Joonmyeon’s face, now takes a glance at Jongin, who is nodding quickly.

Kyungsoo is still staring back at them with the same stony face. Joonmyeon continues on, “I know this is gonna sound strange, but we can make this work, the three of us, if you let us. It’s not something you’re used to, nor what we’re used to, nor what the society is used to, but if the three of us really like each other, then we can make this work…But we need to know how you feel about this, about us, Kyungsoo-yah.”

A few minutes of silence pass as Kyungsoo looks down to Joonmyeon’s bed sheet covers, fiddling his fingers with the fabric in deep thought.

“H-hyung? Kyungsoo-hyung?” Jongin says weakly, not knowing that Kyungsoo’s barriers are being knocked down the moment he said ‘hyung’. He inches a bit closer to Kyungsoo, still leaving distance between the two of them. “Do you hate us? Why have you been ignoring us this whole week? Are you mad at us?”

Another moment of silence passes until Kyungsoo finally speaks.

“I…was never mad at you two in the first place. It’s true that I have been ignoring you but it was not that I hated you. I could never hate either of you. Ever since I met you two, I was told that I have two Romeos, that you two would be competing each other for my heart or something like that. I didn’t want you guys to compete, so I wanted to put some distance and boundaries between us. But the more I spend time with you guys, the more my boundaries got blurred. I admit, I couldn’t stand Joonmyeon’s ‘subtle’ flirting “ – Joonmyeon smiles and nods in acknowledgement – “because it wasn’t exactly subtle; even my brother and your brother knew there was something going on between the two of us. And then I couldn’t understand Jongin’s blatant flirting, invading my personal space and teasing me here and there. And when you use ‘hyung’ on me, it’s my very weakness” – Jongin smiles proudly, earning a smile and a roll of eyes from Kyungsoo – “because I have never been called ‘hyung’ until I met Jongin. And it gave me such an incredible feeling that someone like you has some kind of respect and admiration for me.

“It was hard to choose who I really like, so I was confused. When you confessed to me, Jongin-ah, I was not ready for that, the timing was too sudden. And then the next day, when you told me during our interview, Joonmyeon-hyung, about how you like both Jonginnie-yah and I, well” – Jongin’s ears perk up at the endearing nickname Kyungsoo called him – “I was thinking back to the memory of Jongin’s confession, and it really bothered me with why two guys confessed to me, and one told me of his connection with the other guy. I needed time and some space to process that whole situation, but at the same time, I didn’t know if my presence had disrupted your connection with each other. I’m sorry that you two got the wrong idea; I never meant to do you two wrong. It was just that I had to back out and wait, both for myself to figure this out, and for you two to settle down and try to work it out with each other, before I could come in so our friendship wouldn’t fall apart because of our feelings, you know?”

Kyungsoo looks into both Joonmyeon’s gentle eyes and Jongin’s curious eyes. He smiles to himself, scoffing a bit. “I’d never thought you two would fall for someone like me, especially a Deaf person. What is it about me that you guys like?”

Joonmyeon lists, “Your maturity; the way you babbled at our first meeting; your eyes, they’re so full of wonder and so expressive; the outgoing personality that you show to others…”

Jongin adds in, “Also your nature, your unselfish, caring nature… You’re such a wonderful hyung and I hope you know that. When I first saw you, the way you naturally smiled and looked so carefree with Daehyun-hyung and the others, I wanted to see you up-close because I started falling for you right there, hyung… When I saw you talking with Zitao-hyung and Jongdae-hyung, I was surprised how you carried yourself, handling the conversation between Daehyun-hyung and them by yourself. You looked like someone who was responsible and smart…”

Kyungsoo stares at his friends, blushing, “Wow…you guys had a lot to say about me. I’m…flattered. To be honest, I never expected to have someone wanting to start a relationship with me, much less two people, in this case...I didn’t think this would happen…”

“Well it’s happening right now,” Joonmyeon chuckles, earning a mocking glare from Kyungsoo and eventually a chuckle.

“Hyung, does this mean we’re okay?”

Kyungsoo looks into Jongin’s hopeful eyes, feeling his insides go all squirmy and plushy completely. He looks at Joonmyeon’s eyes and sees the waiting, the silent longing to hear what Kyungsoo has decided.

 _It is just the three of them…right here in this room,_ Kyungsoo thinks to himself.

**_The vibration of a heartbeat in his chest… Lub-dub…lub-dub…_ **

**_Two mysterious hands reaching for him…_ **

_A gentle and assertive touch from Joonmyeon…_

_A young and innocent touch from Jongin…_

Kyungsoo does not know what to think about this. He can only feel happiness and relief bubbling inside his chest…

**_Lub-dub…lub-dub…_ **

Kyungsoo feels Joonmyeon’s and Jongin’s calm and loving hands gently lacing with his hands, as they scoot closer to him; Kyungsoo’s wide eyes look down at their intertwined hands. He blushes when Joonmyeon starts grazing his thumb lazily over the area between Kyungsoo’s thumb and forefinger, and Jongin plays with their clasped hands.

 _Such a sensation to feel this way, this extreme happiness and exhilaration,_ Kyungsoo thinks to himself, _Surely it must happen only in fairy tales…_

“Yeah, we’ll be okay. I…I think I really do cherish you two, I mean it.” Kyungsoo smiles at the two of them. Jongin smiles happily and is about to lean forward, when Kyungsoo hurriedly puts up a finger against Jongin’s lips. Jongin stares at Kyungsoo in surprise, as Joonmyeon slightly widens his eyes at the sudden action.

“I know we’re in college, but no sex or anything of the sort just yet. It will have to wait, though.” Joonmyeon chuckles and Kyungsoo glares at him, “I’ve always dreamed of having a kiss with someone…but never that I would have two someones. I…want my first kiss to be something special.”

“But this moment is something special, hyung!” Jongin whines. “Hyung, I just wanna taste your lips. Why can’t I kiss you, hyung?” Jongin puts on a show of aegyo, and it shocks Kyungsoo to the point where he drops his hand from Jongin’s mouth and gives up. Joonmyeon chuckles as he pecks on Jongin’s cheek for succeeding, cradling the side of Jongin’s head with his free hand before lowering it on Jongin’s shoulder. Jongin goes to boldly kiss Kyungsoo, pouncing on his hyung as Kyungsoo is thrown back on the bed, earning a muffled squeak from him.

“ _Yah, Jonginnie…w-wait-mmph!,”_ Kyungsoo tries to speak between kisses as Jongin sits on Kyungsoo’s lap, hunched over. Joonmyeon is reminded of a cat playing with a mouse.

Joonmyeon shakes his head, chuckling as he moves over to lean against the wall. He gently scratches Jongin’s head, as Jongin shivers at the sensation and he starts groaning and grinding his hips, making Kyungsoo moan a bit louder into their kisses. “Jonginnie, give your hyung a break. It’s all new to him.”

This makes Jongin pull away from Kyungsoo, looking up at Joonmyeon with wide, disappointed eyes. Joonmyeon plants a soft kiss on Jongin’s pouting lips. Kyungsoo looks dazed and blushing red, as he stares up at his two guys above him, now pulling apart from each other, his hands resting on Jongin’s sides.

“Don’t forget to include me, you two,” Joonmyeon smiles as he brings Kyungsoo up to a sitting position, so Kyungsoo can lean back on his chest, and Joonmyeon is leaning back on the wall for support. Kyungsoo and Jongin laugh as the three of them get settled with each other. Joonmyeon’s arms are wrapped around Kyungsoo’s chest as Jongin positions himself comfortably on Kyungsoo’s lap. Jongin’s legs are folded on either side of Kyungsoo’s sides, his hands roaming on Kyungsoo’s clothed sides.

Kyungsoo’s eyes look back at Joonmyeon’s own with question and nervousness as they move closer to each other to kiss, though it is a bit of an awkward angle for Joonmyeon, but Kyungsoo closes his eyes and smiles only for a moment before their lips connect. Jongin goes to kiss Kyungsoo’s neck and laps at Joonmyeon’s jawline.

_This kind of fairy tale…is no longer imaginary, when a dream has come true._

“YAH, JONGIN-AH.”

Kyungsoo breaks off the kiss from Joonmyeon, looking scandalized at Jongin after swatting Jongin’s hands away from his belt. Jongin has this hurt puppy look as he hooks his thumbs in the belt loops of Kyungsoo’s pants, the belt almost unbuckled.

“I said. _No. Sex. Yet._ ” Kyungsoo gives a steely look at his younger lover, his hands grazing upwards on Jongin’s arms to wrap around the back of Jongin’s neck. “Kissing is fine. Cuddling is fine. But _no sex_. We’re still in college, need I remind you twice already?”

Joonmyeon smiles as he gives Kyungsoo a gentle kiss on the top of the head. When Kyungsoo pulls Jongin closer to him, a small distance between their faces, Joonmyeon raises his hand to ruffle Jongin’s hair. He kisses Jongin’s forehead while cupping the back of Jongin’s head.

“You need to control your hormones, Jongin-ah,” Joonmyeon teases. “It’s not your house and it’s not your bed we’re on here.”


	22. Break Up, Make Up, and Fess Up.

From: Jeon Hyosung   
To: Song Jieun

_ Jieunnie-yah, what do you say we do the plan this week, the one we discussed a while back at our third meeting? Himchan’s not been himself lately and I think something’s going on with him and Yongguk, he’s been distracted and acting weird whenever I mention Yongguk’s name. _

From: Song Jieun   
To: Jeon Hyosung

_ Unnie, I hope Himchan’s alright. Yongguk’s not himself either, he’s been kind of spaced out sometimes. Himchan, I haven’t seen him during lunch nowadays; you’re right, it’s like something’s happened between them. _

_ \- A little while - _

From: Jeon Hyosung   
To: Song Jieun

_ A few days ago, Jongup told me about what happened when he came back from his morning run some weeks ago. Saw Yongguk leave before he came into the house to see Himchan tear-stricken and moody. _

From: Song Jieun   
To: Jeon Hyosung

_ Did he? Aw, Jongup, I miss that precious boy. He joins us for lunch now and then, but…he prefers to eat with his hyung. You’re right, unnie. I think we need to figure out what is going on between Yongguk and Himchan, because they’ve been in denial and so moody with each other, and they’re affecting us. _

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

It has been several weeks since Kyungsoo, Joonmyeon and Jongin have admitted their confession for each other, though they have not made it official to everyone just yet. Joonmyeon and Jongin are giving Kyungsoo the time to adjust to having two lovers at the same time, so the three of them are taking it slow. Once they have settled into their pace, they informed their families and friends, starting with Baekhyun and Chanyeol, then the rest of their siblings.

When Hyojung heard the news, she giggled and teased Joonmyeon and his two lovers. “You guys make it look like a family of men, hahahaha, with Jooniemyeon as the father, Kyunggiesoo as the mother, and Jonginnie as the tall baby, aigoo.”

Surprisingly, Miyoung, Taeyeon, and Kibum said almost similar lines of Hyojung’s observation. Kyungsoo is a little embarrassed, though he knows and feels that it is kind of true. He is the best cook out of the three, is very concerned for his family and friends, and associates “cleanliness” as his middle name; Jongin has taken an addiction to his semi-homemade creation of kimchi spaghetti. Joonmyeon seems to fit the father role as he is assertive and decisive, treating his family and friends with a deep sense of kindness and altruism, and able to take on tasks head-on.

Jongin, even though he is the youngest, sometimes enjoys getting attention from his two favorite hyungs. It does not mean that he only likes to be on the receiving end, he likes to give as well; he gets bold with his blatant displays of affection to them as well. With Kyungsoo, he feels a natural urge to smile whenever Kyungsoo looks his way, and to wrap his arms around him. He likes to be  _ close _ to Kyungsoo, and Kyungsoo feels the same way. With Joonmyeon, Jongin has a tendency to lean on him a lot and he relishes on the  _ love _ that Joonmyeon has for him. The signature display of affection that the three of them share is Kyungsoo hooking his pinkies with Jongin’s and Joonmyeon’s, whether they are walking or not.

During lunch at campus one day, everyone congratulates the “JoonSooIn” trio for their official relationship upon hearing Joonmyeon’s announcement.

[fs(HA)! TELL YOU BEFORE WILL TWO fs(ROMEO) HAVE! NOW LOOK HAPPEN, STILL TWO fs(ROMEOS) #LOL TELL YOU]  _ (Ha! I told you you were gonna have two Romeos. Now look at what you got in the end, still two Romeos! Hahaha! I told you~)  _ Daehyun jokes to Kyungsoo, earning an amused roll of eyes from Kyungsoo. Chanyeol then suddenly pops a question to no one in particular.

“So, wait, who’s on top?”

Yongguk chokes on his food, before he gives into fits of snickering. Joonmyeon, Jieun, Luhan, Yixing, Youngjae, and JB stare at Chanyeol, feeling very disturbed that he has asked such a blunt question. Sehun, Zitao, and Daehyun look at the group members with blank looks, unsure if Chanyeol was joking or being serious. Jongdae has an expression of puzzlement when he hears the question. Jongin and Kyungsoo look at the culprit with confused looks.

“CHANYEOL!” Baekhyun lightly hits his boyfriend’s chest with the back of his hand, looking scandalized and about to crack up.

“Chanyeol-ah, please keep your thoughts to yourself,” Joonmyeon says with an angelic smile, but a voice so intimidating that everyone exchanges looks of hushed awe.

“But, hyung, this is the first time we’ve heard something like this! Love between two people is easy, but three? Seems complicated…”

“But it’s not,” Kyungsoo says, not forgetting to sign for Daehyun. “It’s not really complicated, at least that’s what Joonmyeon-hyung says. The way I, or we, see it, it’s really a win-win…-win situation for the three of us. Nothing to lose, nothing to risk for. The three of us like each other a lot, so there’re no complications with that.”

“Really?” Kyungsoo nods. “Wow…”

After the discussion of the trio’s relationship has passed, the members separate into different smaller groups to talk about different topics. Joonmyeon watches and listens as his boyfriends and Daehyun talk briefly about their history project and how everything is coming together very well, before Jongin is asked to talk with Sehun, Luhan, Yixing and Jongup about their dance auditions. Jongdae, on the other hand, is thinking hard about the kiss that happened in his apartment. He wonders if it was Yixing or not – he  _ hopes _ it was Yixing – because the scent was undetectable. He blushes when he remembers that since he was kissed in the middle of changing, someone could have seen his naturally toned body.

“Yixing-ge?” He feels for his friend on his left side as he calls for his friend among the loud chatters and laughter from the group, supposedly sitting next to him.

The seat is empty.  _ Where’d he go…? _ Jongdae thinks to himself.

“Zitao-yah?”

The familiar, calloused hand touches Jongdae’s right palm, and Jongdae relaxes, not realizing how tense he was.

“Where’s Yixing-ge?”

Zitao writes on Jongdae’s palm,  _ He’s at another table, chatting with Luhan, Jongin, Sehun and Jongup about the dance audition. _

“Oh, okay…I thought he must have stepped out or something…”

Zitao replies with only a gentle pat on Jongdae’s hand.

\- - -

Daehyun looks around the food court for Jongup and Himchan. It is one of those days when both Himchan and Jongup are not present. Jongup has joined lunch with them a lot more than Himchan did, if three times were counted as a lot for the past two weeks.

[<HYUNG> v(KNOW WHERE fs<H-CH><HYUNG> AND fs<JU>)v “?” YET NOT SEE THEM-TWO JOIN-US OFTEN. ^(KNOW WHY)^] Daehyun asks Yongguk.  _ (Hyung, do you know where Himchan-hyung and Jongup are? They haven’t been eating with us lately…Do you know why?) _

Yongguk stares at Daehyun with an unreadable expression.

[ … v(WRONG)v] Daehyun asks.  _ (What’s wrong?) _ For a brief second, he notices how Yongguk has his lips pursed, a slight crease on his forehead, and his steely eyes gleaming hard before they are all washed away and an uncertain frown is placed on Yongguk’s face.

[NOTHING, *He shrugs* THINK fs<H-CH> NEED TIME SELF ALONE, fs<J-U> MAYBE JOIN HIM TOO. “KNOW-THAT” fs<H-CH>, BEFORE 1 2 FRIEND HAVE. ~(MANY US GATHER)~ AFFECT-HIM UNCOMFORTABLE MAYBE.] Yongguk frowns.  _ (Nothing’s wrong, I think it’s just that Himchan needs some time alone, Jongup probably is with him. You know how Himchan was before, didn’t have much friends. The amount of us might have intimidated him). _

[“OH-I-SEE” #OK.] Daehyun nods slowly. _(Oh, ok.)_ He looks around again. He has missed Jongup since that night when they were in the park. He thinks to himself, _Jongup said he was afraid of losing me, so why is he not here with us often?_ _But, he also said he wanted to figure something out._ However, Daehyun has said that he will respect Jongup’s space and privacy so he decides to let Jongup have some time away from them.

Meanwhile, Yongguk is reflecting on the memory of what happened at Himchan’s house.  _ What was that kiss about?  _ Yongguk thinks.  _ Did I do that or did he? I think he did; all I did at that moment was comfort him. I don’t know…does this mean he has feelings for me? _

\- - -

Later that afternoon, Zitao is leading Jongdae to the entrance gate. Jongdae tells him that Yifan is on his way to pick him up. Zitao, thankful that Jongdae cannot see him reacting with such worry when Yifan’s name comes up, broods over the memory of what happened in the café.

**_A car is heard from nearby…its engine running loud…_ **

Zitao looks to his left, as the car interrupted his thoughts, and sees the familiar convertible coming up the road. There, seated in the driver’s seat wearing a dark blue long-sleeved shirt, is Yifan wearing sunglasses and a different hairstyle, his hair patted down and swept to the side. At first, Zitao almost does not recognize him but the closer the car and the driver get to Zitao and Jongdae, the more Zitao realizes it is Yifan himself.

_ Fate is playing such a cruel joke on me today…  _ Zitao thinks to himself.

In no position to run away, hooked to Jongdae’s arm, Zitao feels trapped as he faces the car’s side when the car parks in front of them.

“Is that Yifan-ge, Zitao-yah?”

Snapping out of his worries, Zitao hesitantly flicks Jongdae’s wrist, as a nod to confirm Jongdae’s question. He hears the car door open and close before his eyes track Yifan getting out of the car to stand outside on the other side of his car. Zitao notices that Yifan has an unreadable expression on his face.

“Hi,” Yifan says briefly to Zitao before calling out to his brother with a gentle smile, “Hey, Chenchen, it’s me.”

_ It has been a while since I last saw Yifan-ge…  _ Zitao muses.  _ What is it that I did to make him treat me like a stranger? _

“Hi gege,” Jongdae chirps happily. He lets go of Zitao’s arm, causing Zitao to let his arm fall limply to his side.

Zitao tracks Yifan with his eyes as Yifan makes his way around the car toward Jongdae’s side. Once Yifan reaches Jongdae, he ensures to avoid any physical contact and to maintain minimal visual contact with Zitao. He keeps a safe distance to Zitao, as if Zitao was infected with some virus.

Zitao is astonished at how quick Yifan’s face changes with personalities, as Yifan gives him another stony look before curtly saying, “Thank you”. When Yifan wraps one of his arms around Jongdae’s shoulders, he has a gentle smile back on his face. Yifan then opens the passenger door with his free hand.

Zitao can only watch as Jongdae frowns slightly upon hearing his brother’s tone, and Jongdae gets in the car to buckle on his seatbelt before Yifan closes the door. Yifan does not turn around to face Zitao but hastily makes his way to the driver’s side before getting in.

Jongdae opens his window and waves at Zitao, and as soon as after he says, “See you tomorrow, Zitao-yah” with a smile, Yifan has already stepped on the gas pedal not a second later, and they drive off to go back home. Zitao barely gets a chance to say good-bye to Jongdae.

_ Okay, seriously…what was all that about?  _ Zitao stares at the retreating car, appalled.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

A few days later, the morning has Yongguk studying Himchan’s back a few seats in front of him during their morning music lecture. Ever since the kiss, Himchan has been ignoring him and his attempted calls, and Yongguk has to admit that he himself has also been feeling awkward with Himchan. It is late November and they only have a month left to work on their project. They have not even started on experimenting their music creation in the studios. Yongguk does not know how to bring it up to Himchan that they need to continue working with their project, because it would take a while for them to perfect the music.

When the professor dismisses the class, Himchan gets up quickly to gather his stuff and in the middle of turning around to walk up the steps, he accidentally makes eye contact with Yongguk.

Yongguk holds his breath.

The guys hold their stare until Himchan moves, breaking off the eye contact with no other reaction. He walks up the stairs without another glance in Yongguk’s direction, fluidly merging with the crowd of students.

Yongguk sighs as his eyes follow Himchan. Amidst the hustle and bustle of his classmates, his cell phone starts ringing and he checks it to see a text from Jieun.

From: Song Jieun   
To: Bang Yongguk

_ Yonggukkie, we need to talk. You’ve been distancing yourself from your friends and me. Hana-unnie told me that you’ve been acting oddly ever since you came back from Himchan’s house a few weeks ago. Did something happen? _

Yongguk flinches when he reads the text. It is true that he has been spending some time alone, avoiding the others except during lunch and coming to school alone. He does not think anyone close to him would notice his behavior, until recently, when Youngjae had told him directly that he was being moody around everyone and looking stressed lately. Yongguk hated to admit that Youngjae was not too far off from being right. Yongguk was moody not only because of the lack of progress in their project but also because he had not seen Himchan often during lunch. Even when Himchan did join the group for lunch once or twice since the kiss, he just sulked, talking with the group half-heartedly, and Yongguk still could not bring himself to talk to him. Yongguk looks at his cell phone and replies back.

From: Bang Yongguk   
To: Song Jieun

_ Let’s meet at the entrance gate. I’m leaving campus early today. _

\- - -

Himchan breathes out a sigh of relief as he gets out of class. It has been hard for him in the past few weeks to stay in class, because he does not want to see Yongguk yet, not since the kiss. His feelings have been mixed up since then, and he has not been himself, fretting over the kiss, which is a big deal for him.  _ Did he kiss Yongguk out of self-pity _ , he asks himself,  _ or did he kiss Yongguk for no reason at all...or did Yongguk start the kiss? Ugh, I’m just so annoyed, why am I even thinking about this at all?... I should’ve been focusing on the project, and I’m delaying every minute of it and of working with Yongguk. And what, we have a month left? You gotta get your shit together, Himchan. What would Hyosung…? _

Suddenly, as Hyosung’s name brushes through his mind, he realizes that he has not taken his girlfriend on a date to celebrate her job. By some wondrous miracle, he gets a text from her.

From: Jeon Hyosung   
To: Moon Himchan

_ Himchannie~ let’s meet up at the entrance gate of your campus ‘cause I got out of work already today. Lunch or dinner, you still owe me a date. Hahaha! _

Feeling better, Himchan nods to himself and gets his mind straight. He puts the memory of the kiss away deep inside his mind, hoping it does not float back up to remind him.

From: Moon Himchan   
To: Jeon Hyosung

_ Haha, okay. I just got out of class; I’ll see you there. _

Looking up, Himchan happens to see Jieun heading towards the entrance gate. He freezes in his tracks.

_Crap, there’s Jieun. Oh my god, what if she knows about the kiss?_ Himchan facepalms when the memory of the kiss comes back up again. _Ugh, why today of all these days? Why do I have to see someone linked to the guy who I had KISSED? Why did that kiss have to happen? Wait, does she know about the kiss…?_ Himchan pales. _I don’t want her to see me, dammit._ He hurries to the entrance gate, hoping that Jieun does not catch him. For a moment, he hesitates in his walk. _Crap, what if Yongguk is waiting for her there? Sh-_

“Himchan? Is that you, Himchan-ah?! Wait!” Shouts from Jieun are heard behind Himchan. He winces, grimacing in despair.

“What are you doing, walking so fast? Are you in a hurry? I’m meeting Yongguk at the entrance gate. Are you heading there as well?” Jieun giggles as she catches up to Himchan, her arm brushing against his.

Himchan looks down at Jieun and feels guilty about how it seems that he stole the guy’s time and attention from her, and he even accidentally brushed lips with him, when Yongguk was clearly meant for Jieun. Himchan gives her a small smile.

“I’m going on a lunch date with my girlfriend. I’m meeting her… at the entrance gate, too.”

“Oh really? Then let’s walk together!” Jieun says happily. “Anyway, how have you been? We haven’t seen you around nowadays, especially during lunch. Yongguk’s been acting a bit different lately… So have you. Are you two alright?”

Himchan’s heart has never thumped so fast before.

\- - -

Yongguk is waiting for Jieun at the entrance gate when he sees her walking with Himchan. He immediately frowns at the sight, noticing how Jieun and Himchan look carefree and casual as they talk.

It is only when Himchan looks up that his mood goes down, and he hastily apologizes to a confused Jieun before leaving her. Himchan brushes past Yongguk without a glance. Not wanting the chance to slip away, Yongguk immediately grabs Himchan’s wrist – “Himch-“ Yongguk makes to say – but Himchan wrestles his wrist out of Yongguk’s grip so fluidly, that the physical contact lasts for only a second.

Yongguk stares at Himchan’s retreating back in wonderment as Himchan makes his way to a purple car with a woman at the driver’s seat. He feels Jieun coming up to his side and turns to see Jieun frowning at him before she looks at the driver. Recognizing the driver, she waves excitedly and the woman in the driver’s seat smiles, waving back. Himchan does not even make any move to wave back or look their way; after giving the woman a peck on her cheek, he looks to the radio to adjust the dial.

“Jieun-ah, you know the woman?”

“Hm? Yeah, she’s an old friend! You don’t recognize her? She’s Jeon Hyosung! Remember when your sister and I were in a small group of friends and we called ourselves SECRET? She’s one of us, the oldest of the four.”

“Ohh, she’s the girl that Himchan was talking about that day…”

“Hmm? What day?” Yongguk winces slightly at the obliviousness of the question.

“Jieun-ah, I need to talk to you about that. That day has been the reason for my behavior in the past week. Let’s sit down there on the bench.”

Yongguk explains to Jieun what happened that day, leaving out the details of Himchan’s tragic story. Jieun randomly remembers Hyosung talking about Himchan’s parents’ death, and she blurts out that she knows of his parents’ death. Yongguk gapes at her in surprise.

“Well, not all of it, just from what Hyosung had said. So, I don’t know exactly what happened from the brothers’ perspectives...but even so…”

Jieun explains that the day when Hana and Jieun left his place suddenly, they went to meet up with Hyosung and Sunhwa, and Hyosung narrated what had happened to Himchan and her before they got together. Keeping her promise to her girls, Jieun leaves out the details about Hyosung and herself planning to get their boyfriends together.

Yongguk nods in understanding and, leaving out the altar room from his story as he had promised Himchan, he continues on from where he left off. He does tell Jieun about the kiss and how Himchan had been distancing himself from Yongguk.

“Huh, that’s interesting…Himchan and I were talking about you earlier…He was actually curious to know more about you and I. He feels sorry for taking you away from me since we’re a couple and al- I’m just saying what Himchan told me, don’t look at me like that!” Jieun giggles when Yongguk gives her a judging stare. “And he doesn’t know why you’ve been doing that though, spending a little more time with him than with me. He told me that he has never had this kind of ‘bromance?’ – I think that’s what he was trying to say – before and it just feels funny yet comfortable to him. I was just about to tell him that you were bisexual…when he saw you and ran out without me telling him…Yongguk, did you even tell Himchan about your sexuality?”

“Erm…” Yongguk scratches the back of his neck, “I was about to get around on that later…”

“What?!” Jieun is dismayed.

“Look, I’m sorry! I…just…we…wanted to work on the music project and I just felt like it was not the right timing for me to tell him and go, ‘Oh, by the way, Himchan, I’m bi. I’m interested in you, you interested in me? Let’s go on a date.’ I didn’t think Himchan would have kissed me like that; I mean, we were getting close but we didn’t make anything official between us.”

“Well when then? Because right now, it looks like Himchan is having mixed feelings about you;  _ especially  _ since he has a girlfriend, who happens to be  _ my _ best friend, may I remind you. And if you don’t tell him, he’s either gonna be left confused or probably gonna break it off with you and not talk to you for the rest of your life. You’re gonna end up regretting it, Gukkie…if you don’t tell him soon.”

\- - -

Hyosung drives to a quaint café with the guidance of Himchan. It turns out to be the same café that Joonmyeon and Jongin had been to a few weeks ago. Himchan leads his girlfriend to the café and, even though he puts up a smiling façade, he cannot deny the turmoil of his feelings when he saw Yongguk after talking with Jieun. He does not realize how distracted he is until Hyosung gently shakes his arm.

“Himchannie-yah? Come on, there’s an empty table for us.”

When the couple is seated at a table in the middle of the cafe, a waiter comes around and distributes the menu before leaving them to decide. Himchan clears his mind and focuses on picking an order. He hears what Hyosung wants to order, and decides to order the same thing. After the waiter has taken their orders, the couple is left in awkward silence as Himchan finds himself still thinking about Yongguk. He looks to the empty stage placed against one of the walls of the café, taking up a quarter of the café’s space.

Hyosung would be stupid if she had not noticed how her boyfriend is acting, so she approaches Himchan with a direct observation. “Sweetie, you’ve not been yourself lately. You’re getting moody and distant, Jonguppie even tells me that you’re not taking care of yourself, he’s getting worried about you. What’s on your mind? Is it the project that you have to do?”

Himchan subconsciously shakes his head, unaware that he is about to spill out what he was afraid to tell Hyosung.

“It’s Yongguk… I kind of kissed him.”

Hyosung freezes in her seat, blinking at her boyfriend and best friend. “You what? Did you say, ‘you  _ kissed  _ Yongguk’?” She stares at him in shock. Himchan widens his eyes, making eye contact with her, and immediately tries to take it back.

“Wait it’s not...well we…I don’t know!” Himchan scratches the back of his head, frustrated and realizing how stupid he sounds. “There was a…brushing of the lips…”

“...I see. And how did this come about?” Hyosung has a patient tone in her voice, understanding that Himchan is just as confused as she is.

“W-well, that day. When Yongguk and I had to work on our project together at my house,” – Hyosung nods, signaling Himchan to go on – “at some point, I told him about my parents’ altar…Oh, and thank you for the flowers…” – Hyosung gently nods again – “…and I told him about my parents’ death. He was curious to know about it. We had spent that morning talking about music and whatnot, and even joking around. I don’t know how it all turned to me crying my eyes out and pouring out to him what had happened that night of my parents’ death…and then he held me in his arms, and Hyosung, I have never been hugged like that before, not for a long time.

“And Yongguk,” Himchan shakes his head, “he’s such a…I don’t know. We started talking about other things…and when we got to the topic of how he came into my life…it…just…slipped. I was looking at him and he was so close to me, I wasn’t even thinking…” Himchan falls silent when he realizes something.

“You know what’s worse?” Himchan stares at Hyosung in the eyes, looking guilty. Hyosung shakes her head. “Not for one second, did your name come into my mind. It was like, in that moment, all I could think about was Yongguk, Yongguk, _Yongguk_. When I realized my mistake, your name didn’t come back. I felt so ashamed because I kissed a guy who’s in love with his girlfriend. Me, a _straight_ guy, brushing lips with Yongguk, _another straight_ guy, out of the blue. Does this make any _sense_?!” Himchan hisses. “When he left, all I could think about was why I had let my guard down and everything…” He ends his speech lamely.

Hyosung looks at her boyfriend in sympathy. She is about to say something when the waiter comes by with their dishes and drinks, and she thanks the waiter. Himchan mumbles his thanks as the waiter takes his leave.

“Himchan…I…I don’t know what to say,” Hyosung sympathizes. Himchan shakes his head solemnly.

“You don’t have to. It was my mistake for kissing him, it was my mistake for even falling for him when I really shouldn’t have. I mean, I had you, wasn’t that enough for me? But everytime I’m with him, it’s like…I can’t help but want to spend more time with him, even if it means I have to deal with all the stupid flirty things he says to me. I mean, people would think we were a couple, heh. It would’ve been much better if I had him in my lif- uh I mean, you…I mean…if I didn’t have him. I mean…crap.” Himchan scratches his nose, glancing back at Hyosung. Hyosung looks back with a knitted brow of confusion.

“Anyway…erm…shall we eat?” Himchan indicates to their dishes.

The couple begins to eat in silence, neither wanting to say anything that would ruin their appetites. When they have finished their meals, the waiter comes by to give them their receipt and collect their plates.

Hyosung excuses herself to use the restroom as Himchan gives the waiter his credit card to pay. When she reaches the bathroom, she goes to the toilet stall before locking the door, and whips out her cell phone to dial a friend.

_ “Hello?” _

“Hey, Jieun-ah, it’s me.”

_ “Oh, shoot, okay, Yongguk-ah. Hold on, it’s my mom. I’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere.” _

“Huh?”

_ “…” _

“Okay.” A few moments of silence pass as Hyosung hears Jieun walking to somewhere private.

_ “Okay, unnie. What’s up?” _

“Himchan just told me about the kiss. That’s why he’s been moody and distancing himself from you guys. ...I think it’s time we need to do something about it, and maybe… it’s time to go with that plan we talked about.”

_ “Really? Yongguk just told me about it too. It all makes sense now…but, unnie, are you sure you want to break up with him?” _

“Should I not? I want to. Jieun-ah, I’m tired of seeing him moping around because of Yongguk. Ironically, it was also because of Yongguk that he was looking better before the kiss happened; almost as if he was finally being himself, the one that I used to know before his parents…passed away.” Hyosung bites on her bottom lip.

“It’s time for them to reconcile and move on. I know that they still have a project to do, and they need to work together to pull it off. But Himchan’s not been himself, and I can see the emerging cracks in our relationship. Remember, Himchan’s a model student, too. If this goes down, he will want to go down, and it will not be a happy result.”

_ “Oh…I see…But the cracks in your relationship…there’s nothing you can do about it?” _

“I cannot do anything about it, he has to do something about it, and I think it’s too late for that.” Hyosung sighs as she looks to the general direction where she can imagine Himchan sitting at their table outside the restroom.

“He told me that when he kissed him, my name didn’t come across his mind, not even for one second. That tells me that Himchan’s feelings for me are slowly going away. If my name had come across his mind, he would have stopped the kiss and said something about it. But he told me, ‘It was like at that moment, all I could think about was Yongguk, Yongguk, Yongguk.’ And he said he was sorry that he did not think of me at the time. Well, I think he doesn’t need to be sorry. It was bound to happen, you saw the notebook, right?”

_ “Yeah, unnie, I did. I’m sorry that you had to hear that.” _

“It doesn’t matter.” Hyosung smiles grimly. “He and I are still friends, we’ve been best friends before we got into this relationship. Sometimes best friends should remain as best friends. Sometimes best friends are not meant to be lovers…” Hyosung says a little gravely before she stares off into space.

_ “…I see, unnie.” _

“Yah, you and Yongguk should stay there for the next half hour or so, we’ll be there soon and we’ll leave these two to make up.”

_ “…Okay. Will do.” _

\- - -

When Hyosung returns to the table from the bathroom, Himchan is mindlessly staring out the window on his far left. “Himchannie…” Hyosung sits down and reaches out to hold Himchan’s hands on the table. “There’s something about Yongguk that you probably don’t know. And it’s been pretty obvious, I wonder why you didn’t see it clearly.” Himchan turns to look at Hyosung in the eyes, curious.

“What about him?”

“Yongguk’s…bisexual,” Hyosung watches Himchan for any reaction.

Himchan’s eyes widen slightly (Hyosung thinks the eyes look almost hopeful before that glint dies down) and he averts his eyes from Hyosung. “A-are you sure?” His eyes flicker back to Hyosung. “This isn’t a joke, right? You’re not trying to comfort me on this, are you?”

Raising her eyebrows a little, Hyosung feels offended at this but she puts it aside. “Yes, no and maybe.” Himchan flashes a look of confusion at her. She sighs.

“Yes, I’m sure and no, it’s not a joke. Remember that day when I said I was gonna celebrate with old friends? Well some of the old friends happened to be Bang Hana, Song Jieun, whom I’m sure you’ve met already,” – Himchan nods, eyes widening at the recognition of the names – “and Jung Sunhwa. Jieun told me about Yongguk’s sexuality, and believe me, I had a hard time believing it too. Yongguk does not seem the type to fall for guys, but apparently, he fell for you. Hard.” Himchan stares at Hyosung, searching for any deceit in her eyes, but finds none.

“Maybe I’m trying to comfort you, I don’t know, because now that you know, what are you gonna do about it? What are you gonna do about us? What are you gonna do about the kiss, and the project you’re supposed to be working with Yongguk? What are you going to do about Yongguk now that I’ve told you Yongguk likes you? He loves Jieun, but he seems to be lovesick with you too.”

HImchan looks lost, like a kicked puppy.

“Here’s my first suggestion: you better apologize to Yongguk. I saw you acting cold to him earlier today when I was at the entrance gate. Heaven knows how long you’ve been like this to him.” Himchan blushes, feeling ashamed.

“Come on, let’s get you back to school. Hopefully Yongguk and Jieun are still there, so you can go and apologize to him.”

\- - -

When the couple returns to the school, Hyosung sees Jieun standing near the car parking lot, a little further away from the entrance gate. She is waving with a sad smile on her face as Yongguk sits at the bench behind her, watching her sadly. Hyosung wonders if Jieun had already broken up with him. She parks her car, glancing at Himchan who is staring out into space, unsure of how to bring himself to talk to Yongguk. Hyosung grabs Himchan’s hand and squeezes it gently, saying, “It’ll be okay, Himchannie.” She moves to open her door when Himchan asks a question.

“Are we breaking up?”

Hyosung stops and looks at Himchan, biting her lip.

“Are we, Hyosung-noona?” Himchan looks at Hyosung with a defeated gaze. Hyosung sighs for a moment, realizing how rare that Himchan addresses her as noona in the time that they have been a couple, before gathering herself to say the word.

“Yes.”

Interestingly enough, Himchan continues to look at her.

“Did you plan this with Jieun?”

Hyosung falters before continuing on, “Y-yes. I did.”

“Why? Are we not working well together? Do you want us to still be friends after this?”

“Yes, Himchannie. I’ve told you before, and I’ve promised to you. Even though we are breaking up today as a couple, we’re still best friends anyway. To be honest, it was better being best friends with you than in a relationship with you, no offense. You had Jongup to look after and sometimes I feel like I’m in the way. As a best friend, I know that there’s nothing for me to interfere and that I’m still looking after you guys like a noona should.” Hyosung chuckles weakly.

To her surprise, Himchan is also chuckling. “I must have been a horrible boyfriend, haven’t I?”

“No, you haven’t. You’re still young, you’ve been a wonderful boyfriend. Maybe I’m not the right one for you. I mean, who knows, maybe you’ll do great with Yongguk. I have a feeling that you will actually be much better with Yongguk.

“Come on, they look like they’ve been waiting for us.” Hyosung and Himchan get out of her car before walking over to Jieun.

“Hi, unnie. Himchannie-goon.” Jieun smiles at the pair. “Where did you guys go?”

“Café,” Hyosung replies simply. “I think  _ someone _ needs to do an apology and that  _ someone _ over there needs to hear it.” She glances at Himchan, who is staring at Yongguk. She notices how his expression slowly fades from hardness to softness. She assumes that Himchan must be letting the fact that Yongguk is bisexual sinking in deep to his mind.

Jieun nods and glances at Himchan, “Would you like to go on and meet Yongguk at the bench or should I bring him over?” She looks behind to check on Yongguk, who is staring at the ground. “I broke it off with him earlier, just before you guys arrived. He took it alright; there was not much yelling or anything, hahaha,” Jieun chuckles weakly. Hyosung smiles halfheartedly, getting the joke since Yongguk tends to be loud and brash sometimes, according to Jieun and Hana, but the gals know this is not the time for joking.

Himchan gives a faint nod, “I’ll just go over to him, Jieun-ah. Would you guys mind giving us pr-“

“Privacy? No problem, we’ll be in my car, chatting about girl stuff you boys wouldn’t understand,” Hyosung smiles as she grabs Jieun’s wrist and the two girls head to her car, giggling, looking back at Himchan. “We’ll be sure to check up on you guys though.”

Himchan nods and takes a deep breath. Letting out a deep sigh, he makes his way to Yongguk.

“…Yongguk?”

\- - -

Yongguk is staring at the floor, brooding over the recent events that had happened between Jieun and himself.

_ \- A while ago - _

Jieun was sitting next to him when she got the phone call, looking a bit puzzled. Yongguk was watching her with concern, and was about to lean close to Jieun to see who is calling, but Jieun hid her cell phone away from his vision. Confused, Yongguk blinks at Jieun’s hasty action, though Jieun herself looked regretful before answering the call.

“Hello?” Jieun’s eyes suddenly widen. “Oh shoot, okay, Yongguk-ah. Hold on, it’s my mom.” Jieun stands up suddenly, about to move.

“But wh-“

“I’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere.”

“Are you sure?” Jieun nods, before turning around, cradling her phone in her hands as she hurries to find a private place. Yongguk is confused, staring after her, but in the end, lowers his eyes to the ground, sighing as he waits for her.

Some time later on, Yongguk looks up to see Jieun returning, with a sad look on her face. She seats herself at the bench, stowing her closed phone in her purse under the bench, and takes Yongguk’s large hands into her own.

“Yongguk, it’s time you need to stop torturing Himchan and end this.”

“Wha…what are you talking about? End what? What’s your mom got to do with this?”

“Huh? Oh, er…my mom…ran into Himchan the other day, and she wanted to check up on him today, because he was not feeling well yesterday. Anyway, right, Himchan.” Jieun tucks a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Well, you see, it’s about us. Don’t get me wrong, I love you as much as you love me, and I’m thankful that you found me and still stuck with me even when other girls were chasing after you. But, I think, it’s time we need to end this. Face it; even though you’re bisexual, although I’m a little older than you, I’m still your sister’s friend. I have to admit, I still feel a little weird about the age gap between us.

“When I saw Himchan with you, I saw how head over heels you were for him. You were like that with me; no, we were both like that. But that’s all in the past. I heard from your sister when she said she could see how love-struck you were whenever you mentioned his name. I saw the determination in your eyes wanting to get Himchan’s love. The very same determination you had with me when I was just a noona to you. I don't see that happening with me anymore.”

“Babe…is this about making me finish my project with Himchan so we can get it over and done with?”

Jieun feels affronted, bulging her eyes at her boyfriend. “Wha…do you think this is a game?” – “What, no, I don’t!” Yongguk exclaims – “Well then, Yongguk, open your eyes.” She snaps. Yongguk falls silent.

“Himchan must have had a reason to kiss you. He must have felt  _ something _ between the two of you. At that moment, you only saw what you wanted to see, whether if it was a bromance or Himchan falling for you, but you didn’t feel what Himchan was feeling at the moment. You need to clear up on your feelings for him; you need to  _ tell _ him your true feelings.”

Yongguk starts to feel irritated. “Are you breaking up with me so I can get together with Himchan, for your sake?”

Jieun sighs exasperatedly. “No, dammit, Yongguk. I’m breaking up with you because you’re miserable and he is, too. And both of your miseries are affecting Hyosung-unnie and I, too. You two need to make up and move forward together, without us. We’re sick of you two moping around in denial from each other.” Yongguk deflates and frowns.

“That…wasn’t your mom, was it? It was Hyosung-noona?”

Jieun softens her gaze before continuing, this time with a softer tone, “Hyosung-unnie and I thought it was best that you two talk it out and accept each other’s feelings, because it’s been so painfully obvious after all these weeks. The notebook, the lunches, the interactions you guys have with each other at campus and at home…”

_ \- Back to the present - _

Yongguk stares at the ground, thinking back to the times he had with Himchan. It is true that he enjoyed those times with Himchan **;** he has never been as daring with his flirtations to anyone, especially to a guy like Himchan in a public space, or made him feel more open and caring like Himchan does – not even, he admits, Jieun. With Jieun, he felt like the world was handed to him. He got what he wanted. With Himchan, it was all twists and turns and ups and downs that he was not ready to expect. He never expected Himchan to be so easy to tease, blushing one too many times, to be so dorky and yet so vulnerable…

“Yongguk?”

Yongguk looks up, widening his eyes at the sight of Himchan looking shy.

“Do…you mind if I join you there?”

Yongguk shakes his head quickly as he moves aside to make some space, not knowing that there is already more than enough space on the bench for Himchan. He looks back at the ground.

“So…” Himchan sighs, staring at the ground.

“So…” Yongguk parrots him softly, not sure what to say.

“My girlfriend broke up with me today.”

“So did mine…”

“I heard…”

“Did you?” Yongguk shifts his glance to Himchan.

“Yeah, from Jieun…”

“Ah…”

This staccato dialogue between them feels so heavily awkward, with the two of them expressing as few words as possible. Neither is ready to face each other just yet.

“Look, Yongguk, I...” Himchan shifts in his seat, turning to look at his friend, “I’m sorry for being…an asshole, or whatever I was being to you, today…and for the past few weeks. I’m sorry that we didn’t get the chance to continue working on our project when we should have done it. I’m sorry that I haven’t been a good friend to you and the group, not joining you guys for lunch without telling you why. I’m sor-”

“Shut it.”

Himchan shuts up, staring at Yongguk in shock.

“I’ve heard enough of your ‘sorry’s. How about you tell me what the kiss was about?”

Wincing at the sharp tone, Himchan feels nervous; he had hoped earlier that he could deal with that later but not right now.

“Was it your own doing?” Yongguk sees Himchan nod in the corner of his eyes. “Then why did you do it?”

“I didn’t mean to kiss you, it just happened out of the blue.”

“But you did kiss me, there must be a reason, Himchan. I know that I did not start the kiss.” Yongguk finally looks at Himchan, giving him a hard stare.

“You’re the one making me confused!” Himchan starts raising his voice.

“Confused with what? All I did was comfort you because you looked like you needed a hug and someone to be there for you at the time!”

“And that’s your fault!” Himchan spats as he stands up quickly, staring down at Yongguk.

“ _ My fault?!”  _ Yongguk stands up and steps closer to Himchan. He can see the boldness faltering in Himchan’s eyes.  _ “My fault for what?!? _ ”

“For being bisexual!”

Yongguk gapes at Himchan. “Hold on a minute here. You’re blaming my sexual orientation on this? Do you know how idiotic you sound right now? You’re not even making sense!”

“Yes I am!”

“ _ No, Himchan, you’re not _ .” Yongguk’s growls pair with his menacing eyes, and the sight intimidates Himchan, whose words get caught in his throat. “Tell me one thing at a time.  _ Why  _ did you kiss me?  _ What  _ did I do to make you confused?  _ How _ is it my fault that I’m bisexual?”

\- - -

“Oh dear, this isn’t looking good, Jieunnie…”

“I know, they’re so hard-headed…it’s like watching two lions or two rams in a conflict…”

Truth be told, Hyosung lied to Himchan when she said she and Jieun would be talking about girl stuff. They have been spying on Himchan and Yongguk the whole time from afar in their car.

Now, they see Yongguk and Himchan standing so close to each other, that their faces are only inches away from each other, yelling. 

“Geez, they’re so close…why can’t they kiss right there?”

\- - -

Himchan bites his lip, glaring at Yongguk. “I…” He stammers. “I…I kissed you because…I don’t know!” He turns away, crossing his arms and walking a bit further away from Yongguk. 

“...Because I felt you understood me like no one else could, I felt that we shared something special. I trusted you with something private and I never felt so open with anyone… But I didn’t know if that was genuine love or just something like affection that I had for you. I don’t know…”

Yongguk stares at Himchan’s back, flabbergasted.

Himchan continues, “What did you do to make me confused? Well, first of all” – Himchan whirls around and steps closer to Yongguk, jabbing his finger on Yongguk’s chest with every ‘you’ and ‘your’ he says – “it was  _ your _ stupid flirtations that made me blush one too many times, and let me say this, I am not an easy one to blush; and then,  _ you _ calling me ‘princess’ and all those other nicknames; and finally,  _ you _ treating me like I’m worth being noticed by you.” Himchan drops his hand and his shoulders sag when his voice starts softening.

“I used to lay low in the shadows while everyone spoke highly of me and I didn’t want that kind of attention; and then you had to go and introduce me to your friends and I never thought myself to be someone worth hanging out with. You made me see life in a different way. That it was okay for me to be myself without any judgment, without any criticisms, without the needed pressure on my reputation.”

Yongguk stands there, his eyes softly gazing at Himchan.

“How is it your fault that you’re bisexual? Well, again, you toyed with my emotions and you kept invading my mind, especially during classes.” Himchan closes his eyes and shakes his head. He says in hushed whispers, “ _ God, do you even know how sexy your voice sounds? _ And your masculine charm and the charisma you have…they just ooze out of your body and I can’t even think straight with that body…” Himchan glares at Yongguk’s body.

Yongguk raises his eyebrows at Himchan’s true thoughts about him. He looks down at his clothes; it is just a baggy sleeveless shirt with a graphic design on it and navy blue jeans. He looks at Himchan. “Uhm…”

Himchan realizes after a few seconds that he spilled out his thoughts without knowing. “Oh hell, see what I mean?” He facepalms. Yongguk only watches him in silence.

“And then the notebook that you returned? It had your name written within my notes and I had not even noticed it until that class was over. Thank heavens you didn’t see it then, but great, I’m telling you this now. Also, that day when we first met, during lunch, I saw you signing with your friends, and I saw the real you. Right there, I started falling hard for you. The more things I discover about you, the more I fall in love with you. You were, and still are, so much fun to be around with, even with those cheesy jokes you make; your dedication to music, that I feel was similar to my dedication to my music; your easy-going personality that you had with your friends, especially towards Daehyun.” Himchan shakes his head slowly with a smile.

“If I looked past your cocky attitude and cheesy exterior, I saw the real Yongguk. I saw the person who was kind and caring to his friends and family, the person who was incredibly mindful of everything around him. In my whole life, my mind used to revolve around my one and only brother, the only family member I had, and it still does now. Well, mostly Jongup but there’s also Hyosung. It was like that before you came along. Before you came in and disrupted my world.“ Himchan feels tears welling up in his eyes, threatening to fall. He blinks away the tears.

“Himchan-ah…” Yongguk reaches out.

“No, not yet. And that right there...what you just did,” Himchan’s throat quivers as he points to Yongguk. “You called me like that again, ‘ _Himchan-ah_ ’. It has been so long since I was called that name. So long since my parents passed away. I had not heard that nickname until you said it a few weeks back. Hyosung always calls me ‘Himchannie’ ‘cause we were best friends for a long time. It was either “Himchan” or “Nephew Himchan.” When you said it, it was like I started to feel special to someone else, like how I felt special to my parents when they were alive… It felt so good to hear it…” He sniffles.

Yongguk tries to swallow down the emotions caught in his throat.

“Even though I didn’t want to work with you at first, my heart told me otherwise, that you were not just some cocky student who thought he could get away with an easy A. My heart also told me that I was already falling in love with you. But I couldn’t believe it; I refused to believe it after all these years of being straight. I was straight, Yongguk, until I met you. You weren’t like any other guy I’ve met that could have stolen my heart.” Tears are forming once again in Himchan’s eyes.

“Somehow, you made me feel wanted, like someone who mattered. You’re such a mean bastard, Yongguk, you took my heart and I can’t get it back.” The tears start falling on Himchan’s cheeks, and Himchan hurries to wipe them off, looking down. “I hate you, Bang Yongguk…and I hate that I’m in love with you so much I don’t know what else to do…”

Himchan waits for the rejection to come…for the denial…for any bad sign to come his way.

Himchan gives a start when he feels warm arms envelop his body. An arm across his shoulders…another arm across his lower back. He can smell Yongguk’s cologne and he tentatively wraps his arms around Yongguk’s built torso. He dares not to look at Yongguk, resting his eyes on Yongguk’s clothed shoulders.

The two of them stand in their embrace for a while, as the sounds of Himchan’s weeping turn to sniffling. Pulling away from Himchan a bit, Yongguk raises Himchan’s chin with his finger, making Himchan look into Yongguk’s eyes.

“Well, princess,  _ ‘the courses of true love never did run smooth’… _ ” Yongguk smiles.

Himchan chuckles, rolling his bloodshot eyes, “Of course you would say something like that…Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream…”

Yongguk smiles and nods. “I’m sorry for making you feel like this but at the same time, I’m not sorry, Himchan-ah. Because you’re going to be stuck with me from now on. It’s about time, I’ve waited long enough for you to finally realize your feelings for me.  _ ‘I would not wish any companion in the world but you’.  _ Shakespeare’s The Tempest.”

Himchan pulls back slightly, giving Yongguk a weird, amused look. “Okay you need to stop with Shakespeare, haha…It’s creepy how you’re the only one I know who reads Shakespeare and you’re confessing to me with all these lines that no one has ever spoken to me before…But when did you fall for me?”

“When I first laid my eyes on you.”

Himchan falls silent. “…Really?”

“Mm-hmm,” Yongguk leans his head closer to whisper in Himchan’s ear, grinning. “That first time when you stared at me, I was already thinking of naughty things to do to you. I think we can do this right now.” He pecks Himchan on the cheek.

Himchan recoils, staring at Yongguk in shock. “Bang. Yongguk. You. Pervert. Ugh, get away from me.” He squirms in Yongguk’s embrace as Yongguk continues to smile. Yongguk lowers his hands down Himchan’s back. Himchan lets out an involuntary shudder as he places his hands immediately on Yongguk’s chest. “Y-y-yah, Yong-g...guk.  _ Sstop. _ ”

Yongguk chortles, shaking his head as he brings Himchan’s body close to him. His hands pushing against Yongguk’s chest, he feels some muscles rippling underneath his shirt. Himchan lets out a moan before bringing his hand to cover his mouth, staring at him, astonished. “GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME. I’M NOT GONNA LET YOU DO THIS TO ME RIGHT HERE JUST YET.”

Yongguk looks at Himchan with an awed look. “Himchan-ah, are you telling me that we’ll do this somewhere else?”

“WHAT NO.” Himchan tries his best to get out of his trap, but the more he resists and moves in Yongguk’s arms, the more friction his body is having against Yongguk’s clothed body. Himchan continues to get weak at the contact.

“Y-Yongguk, please, stop,” Himchan whimpers, feeling a hardening sensation in his pants. “I’m gonna have something that I really, really don’t want to have right now, not in public at least.”

That does it for Yongguk. He stares at Himchan in giddily astonishment. “Well, you’re the one who’s moving, I’m not doing much of the work here.”

Not wanting to continue to struggle in Yongguk’s embrace, Himchan bites his bottom lip, groaning. “I hate you, you nincompoop.”

“I love you, too, Himchan-ah.”

Himchan glances at Yongguk. “You...love me?”

“I think we’ve gone past the liking stage, since that’s already been so clear in the times that we’ve hung out.”

“So…does this mean we’re…a couple now?”

Yongguk gazes at Himchan, “Let me think. You made a long confession to me a while ago, I confessed just now. We’re in an embrace. I just gave you a peck on the cheek. We’ve said our declarations. Does that sound like we’re a couple now to you, Himchan-ah?” Yongguk shows his gummy smile, his eyes crinkling.

Himchan smiles. “Yeah…I guess we are…” He stares at Yongguk’s lips, thinking back to when he first kissed him. “C-can…Can I kiss you?”

“Who said you couldn’t? And it’s ‘ _ May _ I ki-‘”

“Oh be quiet, you.”

Yongguk and Himchan look into each other’s gleaming eyes before they slowly move their heads closer, tilting them in opposite directions to avoid collision. Yongguk is still smiling and he is chuckling a bit as Himchan slowly grins at their slow movement toward each other. They glance between each other’s eyes and lips before their eyes flutter close and they feel their lips lightly brushing then crashing into each other with a fierce determination.

_ It is heavenly bliss for Himchan when he feels Yongguk’s body heat as they are in an embrace once again, when he smells Yongguk’s cologne, and when he tastes the strawberries and chocolate in Yongguk’s mouth… _

“YEAHHH, HIMCHAN AND YONGGUK!!”

“Jieun-ah, hush! You’re interrupting their moment!!”

The shouts cause Yongguk and Himchan to break apart and look around to see the gals standing outside the car, Jieun jumping up and down in excitement and Hyosung trying to calm her down. The girls freeze in their tracks and look at each other before huddling away to get inside Hyosung’s car.

Yongguk snickers, “Apparently they’ve been rooting for us to get together. Whaddya know…”

Himchan laughs, nodding in agreement.

“Hey…Himchan-ah?”

Himchan looks at Yongguk, concerned at the uncertain tone of Yongguk’s voice.

“I knew about the notebook…When you left and I couldn’t find you, I looked into it because I thought I would find your contact information to return it to you.” Himchan’s heart starts racing as Yongguk continues. “But curiosity got the best of me when I looked to your notes that day so I could review the lecture, and I found your doodles…and my name in there.” Yongguk smiles weakly.

Himchan stares, at loss for words.

“W-well… _ why did you not tell me that earlier?!”  _ Himchan hisses at Yongguk. “Then we wouldn’t have to go through all of this confession today, _ gosh, Bang Yongguk…I can’t believe y-” _

Yongguk silences Himchan with a breath-taking kiss, leaving him breathless and scowling.

“Damn you, Bang Yongguk.”

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

“Where are we going, Yixing-ge?”

“Just wait, Zhongda-yah.”

“But gege...”

“Patience, Zhongda,” Yixing smiles at Jongdae, his thumb grazing over Jongdae’s hand as they walk hand in hand, hooked at the elbow. Jongdae pouts.

Jongdae is walking with Yixing on a Monday afternoon. Yixing had surprised Jongdae earlier by telling Zitao after lunch that he would be taking Jongdae home after he was done with his afternoon class. Once Yixing got out of class two hours later, he saw Zitao waiting with Jongdae and went up to them, thanking Zitao for being patient.

Zitao nodded and took his leave, as Jongdae stood there looking a bit confused and a bit excited for what is to happen.

“Zhongda, I have a surprise for you.”

Jongdae’s ears perked up at the line and he felt cautious about the surprise. “Gege, you know I can’t see the surprise…”

“I know; you don’t have to see it to know it. Come with me. We’re gonna go to a café for a little snack first.” Yixing hooked Jongdae’s arm around his arm, taking the walking stick out of the owner’s hand and placing it in his friend’s laptop bag. Yixing led Jongdae out of the campus and onwards to a surprise destination.

Now, the two guys are entering the café, the same café that Hyosung had eaten with Himchan, and that Joonmyeon and Jongin had gone to when they confessed. Yixing leads Jongdae to a window-side table that has been reserved for them and seats Jongdae down. Jongdae takes off his laptop bag and places it under his seat with Yixing’s guidance. Yixing then seats himself, just as a waiter comes by and says, “Hello, good afternoon, welcome to Harmonious Endings. What would you like for today?”

“We would like to have this dessert, just a slice wide enough for the two of us, please. I’ll have the Americano and Jongdae will just have the caramel cappuccino. Thank you,” Yixing says.

_ I never drink caramel cappuccino unless it is a treat…and Yixing-ge knows that…  _ Jongdae thinks to himself.  _ What is ‘this dessert’ he is ordering for us? It sounds like he is treating me to something. I haven’t done anything important worth celebrating though… _ Jongdae is unaware that his face is showing extreme worry and deep thought, and Yixing can easily see it.

“Zhongda,” Jongdae feels Yixing’s hands gently caressing his hands. “Let’s enjoy our treat today. There’s something after this that I want to…do for you. Mkay?” Jongdae hesitantly nods, smiling weakly.

“Hello, boys. Here is the fruit tart with the dark chocolate crust and for you, a caramel cappuccino and for you, an Americano.”

**_Rattle, rattle…_ **

_ Ah, that must be the forks, and did the waiter say fruit tart? This is really something special, I wonder what’s the surprise now,  _ Jongdae thinks to himself. He then hears Yixing thanking the waiter.

“Enjoy your dessert!” Jongdae thanks the waiter and hears the retreating footsteps. He then reaches his hand to feel the table for the forks…only to find none. He is a bit puzzled.

“Say ‘ahh’, Zhongda.”

Jongdae’s ears perk up at this new line he has never heard Yixing say before. “Gege? What’s going on?”

“Just say ‘ahh’, Zhongda-yah.” Jongdae hears the amusement in Yixing’s voice and compels himself to do what his friend asked him to do.

**_A taste of strawberry, blueberry, and raspberry mixed with vanilla crème…and the crustiness of the dark chocolate graham crackers…_ **

_ Wow…this is really amazing. _ Jongdae savors the taste in his mouth. “Mmm, this is sweet.”

“Do you like it?”

“Mhm!” Jongdae chirps with a nod.

“I’m glad.” Jongdae hears a tinge of contentment in Yixing’s voice and he hears a hum from Yixing. Jongdae assumes that Yixing has just tried a bite of the tart as well.

“Gege, is there only one fork? I thought I heard two forks on the table…”

“Wha…you heard two forks?” Unbeknownst to Jongdae, a smile creeps on Yixing’s face as he reaches for his cup to take a sip of the Americano. Jongdae nods.

“Impossible, there was only one,” Yixing teases as he moves the other fork away from Jongdae’s reach.

“Gege, I’m  _ blind _ , not deaf. I clearly heard two forks on the table. Rattle rattle. Two rattles. If it was one, I would have just heard one rattle,” Jongdae says monotonously.

Yixing chuckles as he takes another bite again of the fruit tart, “You got me. There were two forks, but since we’re sharing one already, what’s the use of ruining the other fork?”

Jongdae blushes. “Gege…you…I…wha…we’ve been sharing one fork? Gege…that’s mean. I might get your sickness or whatever that’s been in your mouth...”

Yixing pretends to be offended. “I’ll have you know that you had the first bite, and I’m perfectly healthy.”

“…Oh.”

Yixing smirks, “Zhongda…Remember I told you there’s a surprise?” Jongdae nods. “I’ll be right back, okay? Enjoy the rest of the fruit tart. I already had some. Wait for the surprise.” Yixing places his fork on the plate before moving them and Jongdae’s cappuccino towards Jongdae. “Plate’s on your left and cappuccino on your right.” He then inserts the other fork he had hidden in Jongdae’s hand. Jongdae’s hand instantly wraps around the fork.

“But how will I know what is the surprise?”

“Listen for it,” Yixing simply says, ruffling Jongdae’s hair. “I’ll be right back.” Jongdae nods, still feeling a bit puzzled.

Jongdae is left alone at the table as he feels for the plate that has the dessert, and tentatively strikes his fork down on the plate, feeling for the tart. Feeling the soft landing of the fork, he takes a forkful of the dessert and brings it to his mouth, savoring the sweet taste. His other hand feels for his cup, and when he finds the handle, he brings it closer to him.

“Mmm, this is so good. I wish I could see the dessert so I could savor it with my eyes too.” Jongdae takes a sip of his caramel cappuccino.

**_Chatter and laughter fills his ears…_ **

**_The warmth of the sunlight passes through the cool window to radiate on Jongdae’s left side…_ **

Jongdae rests his chin on his upright hand, with his elbow resting on the table. He is still waiting for Yixing to come back.

**_Suddenly, cheers and whooping are getting louder in the café…_ **

**_“YEAH, GUITAR MAN!”_ **

Jongdae frowns, wondering who is the guitar man that has everyone excited. He thinks to himself,  _ Where is Yixing? He’s gonna miss out the excitement here… _

**_A tapping sound is heard from the microphone…_ **

“Hello, everyone. Good afternoon.”

Jongdae straightens up in his seat.  _ That voice… _ He faces towards the source of the sound.

\- - -

What Jongdae does not know is that Yixing had planned this date beforehand. Several days before, Yixing had negotiated with the café manager about his plan and the café manager was delighted to cooperate with him. The dessert and drinks were already paid in advance by Yixing as well, as the chef of the café suggested Yixing the newest dessert which was the fruit tart on a dark chocolate crust. Yixing had prepared a song, a piece that he wrote for Jongdae for several weeks, and on the night before his surprise, he left his guitar in the café storage room.

Yixing watches as Jongdae enjoys his dessert, and he goes to the storage room in the café to get his guitar.

The café is semi-crowded and Yixing thinks it is plenty enough of an audience for what he is about to sing. Gathering his courage, he goes up on the empty stage, save for the piano, microphone stand and a stool, and prepares himself for his performance. As Yixing takes out his guitar from the case, he hears some people whooping, and slowly, there are cheers erupting from the whole café as he shows his dimpled smile while bowing in thanks. He then sits on a stool and adjusts the microphone to conform to his sitting height. He taps the microphone to test the sound.

“Hello, everyone. Good afternoon,” Yixing keeps an eye on Jongdae and smiles when he sees that Jongdae sits up straighter in his seat, recognizing Yixing’s voice. “My name is Zhang Yixing.”

Yixing does a tune check up with his guitar, strumming as he starts his small speech. “I moved here from China when I was a small kid, so I grew up learning Chinese at home and Korean at school. However,” he stops strumming and looks around the café for a dramatic effect, “I am not here to tell you my life story.” He smiles as everyone chuckles. He looks at Jongdae and continues, “I am here to sing to someone special in my life, and I would like for you all to listen to it. I have been singing for years, but this will be the first time he has heard me sing.” Sounds of ‘aww’s and ‘ooh’s fill the room.

“Although this song is in Chinese, this special someone has both Chinese and Korean backgrounds, and I know that he will understand the song once I sing. For those of you who do not know Chinese, let me give you a short description.” Yixing strums a little bit. “This song is really just about speaking from the heart, wanting to tell that someone how you really feel, wondering if he or she will accept it.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope you all will enjoy my composition, [Speak My Mind To You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6XAPw1E5Xg). Zhongda, this is for you.” Yixing starts strumming as the café erupts in encouraging cheers.

Slowly the cheers die down and Yixing readies himself to sing.

_ 想说心里的话给你听 _

_ I want to speak my mind to you _

_ 让你能够感觉到我的心 _

_ And let you feel my heart _

_ 想说心里的话给你听 _

_ I want to tell you the things in my heart _

_ 让你能够感觉我有多爱你 _

_ And let you feel how much I love you _

_ 当我站在台上默默的看你 _

_ When I stand on stage staring quietly at you _

_ 心中默默下定决心 _

_ Inside my heart, I quietly made a decision _

_ 当我站在台 下近距离的看你 _

_ When I’m standing off the stage and seeing you up close _

_ 我真的就一见钟情 _

_ It’s really just love at first sight _

_ Yeah~ _

Yixing sings and watches as Jongdae continues to face him with a smile and pink cheeks. He grins at the sight of  _ his shy Jongdae _ as he repeats the first verse.

_ 说句心里话我真的好爱你 _

_ I’ll say this from my heart, I really love you _

_ 可是我们之间似乎还是有距离 _

_ But there still seems to be a distance between us. _

_ 说句心里话我每天想的都是你 _

_ I’ll say this from my heart, all I think about every day is you _

_ 连做梦也会梦到你 _

_ Even in my dreams, I dream of you。 _

Yixing makes to stand up and everyone starts clapping to the rhythm, giving him an extra boost of confidence. He taps his foot to the rhythm while still strumming his acoustic guitar.

_ 想说心里的话给你听 _

_ I want to tell you the things in my heart _

_ 不知你会不会想听 _

_ But I don’t know if you’ll want to hear. _

_ 想把所有心思全都告诉你 _

_ I want to tell you all of my thoughts _

_ 不知你会不会领情 _

_ But I don’t know if you’ll accept them. _

Yixing looks his way to Jongdae, and sees him swaying to the music, with an expression that shows deep thought, as he listens to the lyrics and figures out the meanings in his head.

_ 当我站在台上默默的看你 _

_ When I stand on stage staring quietly at you _

_ 心中默默下定决心 _

_ Inside my heart, I quietly made a decision _

As Yixing sings the next few lines, he gets off the stage, making his way towards Jongdae. Yixing looks down at Jongdae, who is looking up at the sound of Yixing’s voice singing to him. Now up close, he sees Jongdae tearing up, still with a smile on his face. He stops playing while continuing to sing, as everyone continues to clap in time with the beat.

_ 当我站在台 下近距离的看你 _

_ When I’m standing off the stage and seeing you up close _

_ 我真的就一见钟情 _

_ It’s really just love at first sight _

_ Oh~ Yeah~ _

Yixing places his hand on Jongdae’s cheek and wipes off a tear that has fallen on Jongdae’s cheek with his thumb. Jongdae immediately lifts his hand to keep Yixing’s hand in place for a moment, gently squeezing it before letting go. Yixing suddenly grabs hold of Jongdae’s falling hand, and brings it to his lips to kiss the knuckles. He sings once again, going back to the stage to sing his last verse, strumming the guitar once again.

_ 给你记忆 _

_ I’ll give you my memories _

_ 让你能够感觉到我的心 _

_ And let you feel my heart _

_ 想说心里的话给你听 _

_ I want to tell you the things in my heart _

_ 让你能够感觉我有多爱你 _

_ And let you feel how much I love you _

_ 让你能够感觉我有多爱～你～ _

_ And let you feel how much I love you~ _

Yixing ends the song with a final strum of the guitar, and everyone falls in love with the guitarist as they give him a standing ovation. Yixing once again shows his dimpled smile and bows many times, thanking the audience. He sets his eyes on Jongdae, who looks teary-eyed with a smile on his face, clapping along with everyone else. He places his guitar back in its case and carries it over to the table where Jongdae is seated. Everyone in Yixing’s path is clapping him on the back, congratulating him and cheering for him as they watch him make his way to Jongdae.

Once seated, Yixing grabs his composition sheets from his guitar case and gives them to Jongdae.

“Zhongda…here you go…the second part of the surprise.”

\- - -

**_Cars are rushing by the café window, motors humming in frantic pace…_ **

**_Chatter and the cheering from people fill his ears, but no sound is clearer to Jongdae than the person sitting opposite him, telling him of a surprise…_ **

_ “Zhongda…here you go…the second part of the surprise.” _

**_Rustle…rustle…_ **

_ Such orderliness and cleanliness of Yixing’s writings…yet all over the place,  _ Jongdae thinks to himself, chuckling as he feels the heavy pencil marks on the paper.

His hands are calmly brushing on the paper, searching for a place to start, before he detects an uneven pattern. He makes them out to be clustered bumps upon the crisp, clean paper.

**_Rustle…rustle…_ **

Though Jongdae’s eyes may seem to gaze into space, what Jongdae sees in his mind is the white Korean characters forming a single line amidst the blackness of his vision, and tears form once again in his misty eyes, as he understands the words of lovers expressed time and time again:

_ “종대야…사랑해~” _

_ “Jongdae-yah, I love you.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The link doesn't have English subtitles, since there's Viet subs, but it does have Pinyin, if anyone's curious.


	23. Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jongdae revisits his memories, the group celebrates, and Jongup gets a surprise visit.

Jongdae takes a moment to read the line over and over again, at loss for words.

Memories come to his mind not in visual forms but in countless conversations…

_\- - - -_

“Hello there.”

Sitting in one of his high school classrooms, Jongdae continued to face ahead as he sat at his desk chair, eating his lunch sandwich alone. There were sounds of small chatters from several classmates in the classroom. He did not mind as most of the other classmates had their lunch breaks outside of the classroom, finding the environment to be relaxing and less distracting. Jongdae had gotten around by himself in the schools he attended, mostly with the help of his walking stick, sometimes with the help of his sister, so solitude was not an issue for him.

A clean, fresh scent of lemon filled Jongdae’s nose. He did not recognize the voice nearby, for it did not match with any of his classmates’ voices that he so often heard. And so he did not bother to say anything, assuming the speaker was talking to anyone but him.

Jongdae detected a prominent Chinese accent behind the voice. He thought to himself, _There’s a Chinese student in our class? … When did we have a Ch-_

**_A gentle touch on his shoulder…_ **

Stopping mid-chew, Jongdae furrowed his brow in confusion while he slowly turned his head to the sensation on his shoulder.

“Hi, my name is Zhang Yixing.” It was the same gentle voice Jongdae heard for the second time in a row, somewhere above his head. Jongdae finished chewing his sandwich before swallowing it.

“H-hi…” Jongdae could safely assume that the person was standing, so he nervously looked up to where he thought the person’s face would be. Little did he know he was facing Yixing, his aim was not too far off from Yixing’s face.

“What’s your name?”

“Er…J-Jongdae. I mean, Lee Jongdae.”

“Nice to meet you, Lee Zhongda.” Jongdae detected Yixing’s strong accent, and how it had almost altered the entire pronunciation of his name, leaving him fascinated with his new name. Lowering his sandwich promptly onto his desk, he wiped his hands free of crumbs before he politely lifted one of his hands. A warm hand enveloped his hand and Jongdae found himself shaking hands with Yixing. After the handshake, Jongdae noticed that Yixing continued to hold it for a little longer with a looser grip.

 _This is a little too long for a handshake,_ Jongdae thinks to himself.

“Do you mind having some company for lunch?”

“O-oh…uhm. No, go right ahead. Have a seat…erm…somewhere. I usually eat alone, but I don’t mind…having…some…company.” Jongdae said haltingly, feeling slightly awkward. He refused to acknowledge the pace of his heartbeat quickening in his chest.

“Heh, thanks.” As Yixing let go of Jongdae’s hand, he smiled at him and seated himself in the empty desk next to Jongdae. “I’m 17, by the way.”

“Oh, I’m 16.” Jongdae smiled lightheartedly as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt with one of his hands, feeling nervous with the state that he is in. _A year above me, that’s why I didn’t recognize his voice…_ he thought to himself.

“Ahh, I’m older than you.” Jongdae detected a hint of amusement in Yixing’s voice. “You can call me ‘hyung’, or ‘gege’ if you want.”

“Actually…I’m part-Chinese, part-Korean.” Unbeknownst to Jongdae, Yixing reacts with a look of astonishment before it changes to a look of admiration. Jongdae continued on, “So at my house, my family and I speak both languages. Can I call you ‘gege’, then?”

“ _Whatever you want_ ~” Yixing said in Chinese, almost in a singsong manner, happy to have made a new friend.

Having understood that, Jongdae felt a smile creeping on his face. He wondered why of all these days in his early years of high school, was this the day Zhang Yixing come up to meet him that day. Unfortunately, their chat was short-lived as the bell rang soon afterwards, signaling that class is about to begin.

_\- - - -_

Jongdae’s answer comes not too late nor too soon after their first meeting.

At the cafeteria during lunch, Jongdae was by himself once again, eating Minseok’s homemade noodle soup, thinking back to the day when he first met Yixing. He had not heard from Yixing since that day, and now, he felt strangely alone, wishing that his friend would join him a little more often for lunch.

Just then, among the loud chatters of students, a voice was heard louder than the others. It was coming from none other than the person standing in front of Jongdae on the other side of the table.

“Hi Zhongda, I’ve noticed you’re eating by yourself a lot. Sometimes I see you eating with a girl, whom I assume is your younger sister. It seems to me that she may have a different lunch period, so I thought I’d like to accompany you for lunch. Do you mind?”

At first, Jongdae furrowed his brow upon hearing the voice, frowning a little. Suddenly, he brightened and nodded, recognizing the owner of the voice. There was a wonderful feeling inside his chest that was threatening to burst.

“Th-“

“Actually…”

Jongdae’s throat hitched at the sudden interruption, his face slightly dropping, and waited for Yixing to finish.

“I was thinking…if I could be your friend from now on. You really seem like a genuine person, and I’d like to get to know you more. I have some friends, but most of them don’t attend this school, except for my brother. Plus, I see you around in school almost every day; it’s not that hard to miss the only blind student in here. But…you don’t look like you have many friends. I mean, you might have some classmates but…I don’t see you hanging out with them or vice versa…”

Jongdae did not say anything, feeling a little confused at Yixing’s rambling. He let Yixing explain more.

“It’s just…you caught my eye a few months back and it’s rare that we walk past each other in the halls. I have been wanting to talk to you but I end up watching you from a distance. Oh geez, I sound like a creeper. Sorry, Zhongda…I honestly do not have any wrongful intention. I really do want to be your friend even though we just met a few days ago, please understand.” Still confused, Jongdae nodded a bit too excitedly, wanting to understand what point Yixing was trying to make.

“You know, you always have this smile on your face everywhere you go, and it makes my day every time I see it. But, strangely, I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem complete without having a friend walking with you. Life is meant to be enjoyed everyday, but it shouldn’t always have to be enjoyed alone, you know what I mean?”

Jongdae slowly nodded, still unsure of Yixing’s vague speech, before he brought himself to answer.

“Y…yes, I think I know what you mean, Yixing-ge. Uhm…it may seem that I hang out with my classmates but the truth is that I’m not that great of a social person, I’m not one to have a lengthy conversation with people. That’s why I usually walk around in the halls without people around me… And, I think most people feel uncomfortable talking with me because they want to have my full attention. Even though I cannot see how they are expressing, and I do often misunderstand their tones, it just feels very awkward for the both of us.”

“So…I can’t be your friend?”

“I…” Jongdae’s voice faltered upon hearing the defeated tone in Yixing’s voice, though it did not sound like a resigned statement but of a careful question.

“I…well…no. I mean, yes, wait no.” Yixing blinked as he watched Jongdae stammering. _Oh crap, this isn’t how I wanted things to go,_ Jongdae panicked.

“I mean, I rea-…I w-want you to be my f-friend…er, that is…if you want to be my friend. I mean, I didn’t mean to sound like I hate you or dislike you or anything for that matter…it’s just…” Jongdae fumbled with his chopsticks in his bowl, desperately trying to make a sound point. He took a deep breath.

“I’d want you to be careful with what you say, because you may say it now that you can be my friend, but you probably won’t me-“

Yixing chuckled lightly. “I _want_ to be your friend, is that too much to ask, Zhongda?”

Jongdae’s mouth dropped slightly open at the sincerity of Yixing’s demand. He heard a sound of bone hitting the table, feeling a slight reverberation on the surface, and a metal creaking sound from below.

“That was my knee just now…hahaha, sorry, I’m a bit clumsy sometimes,” Yixing said with an airy laugh, as he seated himself across from Jongdae at the table bench. _Seems like Yixing-ge won’t take ‘no’ for an answer,_ Jongdae thought to himself.

Jongdae suddenly jumped at the physical contact as he felt Yixing’s warm hand over his free hand.

Yixing smiled at Jongdae’s reaction, and continued to hold his hand. Seeing the faint blush on Jongdae’s cheeks, he chuckled and said to him, “Zhongda…I’ll be your gege, your friend, and your escort around here in school and outside of school. Is that okay with you?”

“Uh…wha…er…” Jongdae stammered, taken aback at Yixing’s sudden offer.

“Oppa!” Sunyoung’s voice was heard from Jongdae’s left. Jongdae mentally thanked Sunyoung for the interruption so he could think about the offer later. “Oppa, who are you eating with? Is he your friend?” Jongdae heard and felt Sunyoung settling down next to his left. He could smell the warm noodles from his left, and he knew that Sunyoung was just starting to eat Minseok’s homemade noodle soup.

“Erm…Sunyoung-ah…”

“Hello, my name is Zhang Yixing, your brother’s friend. I’m in my third year here.”

“Oh, hello, Yixing-sshi!” Sunyoung warmly greeted Yixing. “I’m Kim Sunyoung, Jongdae’s younger sister. That makes you my oppa or wait, maybe gege.” She giggled before glancing at the intertwined hands on the table.

“But…why are you two holding hands? Are you two more than friends?” Sunyoung looked between her brother and Yixing.

Jongdae spluttered before quickly removing his hand from Yixing’s grasp. “Wha- no! Sunyoung-ah, it’s not what it looks like! I…he…well…it’s jus-”

Yixing’s chuckles interrupted Jongdae’s stammering. “No, it’s not like that, Sunyoung-ah. You see, I met him a few days ago, but I haven’t seen him since, until today. I just offered to be his friend-slash-escort around school, and outside of school, and I’d like to know if that is okay with Zhongda here.”

“Oh, it’s oppa’s decision, I don’t have any say in that. It’s up to him if he wants someone to help him out or not. I help him sometimes but he has his walking stick. It’s his trusty companion.” Sunyoung giggled.

Jongdae mentally facepalmed at being forced to think about the offer now, and he hoped that whatever he would say would at least provide some neutrality.

“I…might need some…time…to think about that. But you’re more than welcome to be my friend inside and outside of school. Is that okay?”

“Okay sure.” There is a pause of silence before Yixing asks, “What do you guys have there? It smells really good.”

“Oh, it’s Minseok-hyung’s homemade noodle egg drop soup with some wontons.” Jongdae smiles.

“Ahh, I see; I have my sandwich with me, hahaha. My lunch is way inferior to you two’s.”

While the trio was eating lunch, Jongdae and Yixing exchanged class schedules and began to talk a little more about themselves, with Sunyoung joining in. After they had eaten, Jongdae made to reach for his stick when he stopped and tested his courage.

“Yixing-ge… Would you like to be my guide, since we’re heading to the same building?”

“I…uh…sure,” Yixing said with a slight hesitant tone. Truth be told, Jongdae felt a little anxious to have physical contact with his new friend. The older male then gets up to walk around and sit next to Jongdae. “I might not be a great guide, being clumsy sometimes.”

“I’ll manage.” Jongdae smiles.

“Do you want me to hold anything for you? Your backpack, since I don’t have mine with me anyway?”

“Why, where’s yours?”

“In my locker. We can get it on the way.”

“Alright...sure. You’re not just trying to be nice to me...right?” Yixing blinked at the tone. “Sorry, I have to ask. I don’t like it when people try to be nice to show pity...”

“Like I said before, I want to be your friend. I like you. I’m intrigued with you, especially after all that talk we had.” Yixing stowed the bowl in Jongdae’s backpack. “You’re not gonna get rid of me that easily, Zhonga.” He chuckles. Jongdae felt a little shy all of a sudden.

“Ready?” Jongdae felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and his heart was beating so fast at the sensation. He could not find the words to reply back, so he just nodded in response.

When Jongdae reached out tentatively for Yixing’s hand, Yixing quickly linked their hands together, and let Jongdae stand up. Jongdae pulled his legs out from under the table, and when he found himself standing, he felt his arm being guided to hook around Yixing’s arm. His breath caught in his throat at the bold skinship. He could only turn his face to where he assumed Yixing’s face was, and nervously smiled at him.

**_There was a hint of lean muscles in Yixing’s arms underneath the sleeved uniform, it was nothing like the familiar feeling of holding onto his younger sister’s arm, soft and assertive…Yixing’s was assertive too but his arm was more defined…_ **

**_Where their hands were intertwined, Jongdae could feel Yixing’s thumb grazing softly on his knuckles…._ **

**_It only took a whiff of a lemon scent in the air for Jongdae’s heart to start beating fast…_ **

**_Jongdae gulped as he continued to take deep breaths to calm down…_ **

**_A soft giggle was heard from his sister…_ **

“Yah, why are you giggling, Sunyoung-ah?” Jongdae hastily questioned his sister, turning his face away from Yixing, trying to face where he thought Sunyoung was.

“You two look like a couple, with arms linked like that,” Sunyoung simpered. Jongdae did not have the strength to retort back.

“We do, don’t we, Zhongda?” Jongdae felt Yixing nudging him gently, and he could hear the amusement in Yixing’s voice.

“I wouldn’t know, I can’t see,” Jongdae said almost bluntly. In a flash, he felt embarrassed at the stupidity of his words. There was a small awkward silence afterwards, and Yixing gently patted Jongdae’s hand in reassurance as Jongdae hastily apologized over and over. Jongdae stopped when Yixing placed a finger on his lips, and he heard small chuckles from both Yixing and Sunyoung.

He wondered why his face felt so warm. _Maybe it’s the sun._

After the trio walked with Yixing to his locker to get his backpack, they made their way to class. They finally ended up at the building where Yixing’s classroom was on the second floor while Jongdae’s and Sunyoung’s classes were on the first floor. Yixing, being the first to leave for his classroom, patted Jongdae’s arm and untangled their linked arms with a smile. Jongdae could not deny his small disappointment at the loss of contact, and it must have been clearly shown on his face because Yixing tapped his nose lightly. Jongdae was startled that he had been caught, and looked away. He knew that he was blushing, since Sunyoung’s giggles were an obvious giveaway.

“Well, anyways, I’ll be going now. Zhongda, if I don’t see you after class today, I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I’ll meet you at the entrance gate, okay? You too, Sunyoung-ah. It was nice meeting you, by the way.”

Yixing left the Kim siblings with a ‘see you later’, and Jongdae could hear Yixing’s retreating footsteps ascending, assuming that Yixing was on the stairs.

Jongdae and Sunyoung were walking to their classes when Jongdae asked Sunyoung to describe Yixing to him. Sunyoung described him to be lean and quite handsome with a long face and _irresistible_ dimples on both cheeks, especially his right cheek, and a gentle person with a caring personality.

“Oppa…I wanna marry him.”

“Eh?! Yah, Sunyoung-ah, you’re too young to marry him!” Jongdae snapped. “You hardly even know him more than I do! He’s mi-…a-a…a…f-friend!” He showed an expression of shock before he caught his own actions and realized what he was doing. “I mean, he’s our friend.”

Sunyoung stared at her brother, looking a bit unnerved from his sudden outburst. She noticed how Jongdae looked a little flustered. “I’m sorry, oppa, but I was just playing…

“Oppa,” Sunyoung said a little weakly, intertwining her hand with her brother’s, “…are you jealous? Or possessive, maybe? I understand if you like him a lot, he _is_ your friend after all.”

Jongdae fell silent as his heart continued to thump loudly. _He’s my first friend…_

_\- - - -_

Jongdae sighed and gulped. “Because…I don’t know…what Yixing-ge looks like…Am I stupid to fall in love for someone I cannot even see, that I can only touch, hear and…smell? I’ve known him for years but to fall for someone I cannot picture in my head! This doesn’t make sense, I feel like an idi-“

“ _Yah_ .” Yifan interrupted with a growl. That shut Jongdae up. “ _Don’t_ say that about yourself ever again, you hear me? _Ever._ First of all, you are _not_ stupid. Second, who says so? Who says that it is illogical for a blind person to fall in love with someone, huh? Who is to stop you from feeling what you feel for another person? Jonggie-yah, some people say that love is blind because some people are foolish to fall in love with people who they don’t match well with. However, love is also blind because there are some people who do not need eyes to _see_ the love that others have for them. As long as you trust your heart and the other person with your very being, and the other person trusts you just the same, that’s love right there.”

_\- - - -_

**_CREAAAKKK…_ **

“Hello?” Jongdae whirled around to the source of the sound. There was no response.

For the longest time, he waited for any movement, any noise. Nothing. He frowned to himself.

**_All of a sudden, Jongdae felt a slight breeze…_ **

“Is anyone there? Answer me, ple-”

**_…And then warm lips lightly brushed against Jongdae’s own, sending sparks throughout his body, increasing in ampere as more pressure was placed on the lips._ **

**_Just like a snap of fingers, the electric sensation zapped out and the lips left him._ **

Blinking, Jongdae quickly reached his hand out for anyone, but the person was just too quick, and he could only catch air. He touched his lips, feeling the warm, moist imprint.

“Yixing-ge?”

Jongdae could only hope, but he swore that his nose was not playing tricks on him. He thought he could detect a very faint whiff of lemon hanging in the air…

_\- - - -_

“Zhongda? Are you okay? You’re crying…”

**_A warm hand cups Jongdae’s cheek as the thumb brushes off the tears slowly falling down…_ **

**_It startles Jongdae and brings him back to the reality…_ **

Jongdae closes his eyes and lets the tears fall, as he leans onto Yixing’s hand, raising his hand to hold it in place. The feeling of being cared for in this manner overwhelms him to the point where there are no words to say. He can only smile and make a weak chuckle.

“I-I’m fine, Y-Yixing-ge. J-just…thinking back on the times we’ve h-had since we first met.” Jongdae feels Yixing’s thumb lazily grazing on his cheek.

“Ah, I see,” Yixing says lightheartedly. “Zhongda…there’s something I should tell you…”

Jongdae waits for Yixing to continue, gently squeezing Yixing’s hand as a signal to go on.

“That time when I walked you home with Luhan and Zitao, and you were alone in your room changing…and there was a kiss…” Yixing is about to explain but Jongdae finishes the rest of the sentence with Yixing.

“That was you, wasn’t it?”

“That was me…Oh man, I knew it. You would have known it was me, nothing could escape your keen nose.” Yixing chuckles.

Jongdae giggles. “The thing about being friends with people you’ve known for a long time, is that you’ve become accustomed to their presences and their habits that you easily recognize people by them.”

“That’s true…” Yixing says with a smirk on his face, staring at Jongdae with eyes of endearment.

“Yixing-ge, I also have a confession…” Jongdae bites his lip nervously as he lowers their intertwined hands to the table.

“Hm?”

“I…have had a crush on you for the longest time…maybe since the day we first met. I didn’t realize how much I wanted you to be my friend and to be around with me almost everyday…”

“I know.” Jongdae’s heart does a flip in his chest, at both hearing the words and feeling Yixing’s thumb brushing on the back of his hand.

“You did?” The noisy chatters in the café become diminished to a low buzzing sound, as his ears focus on Yixing’s voice. He feels Yixing’s other hand intertwining with his other hand, before both of his hands are being tugged to the center of the table.

“Zhongda, the way you’ve held my arm, the way you get close to me and get all expressive whenever I’m around. It’s not that hard to miss; otherwise, why else would I have gone over to your place almost everyday to get you and walk you to school, to any places that we could go, or even just stay there and spend some time with you and your family? Frankly, I think everyone’s been expecting us to do something about us.”

“O-oh…Yifan-ge kinda said the same thing…”

“He did?”

“Yeah, when I told him that I…liked you more than a friend…” Jongdae turns his face away, hoping that Yixing does not catch him blushing. He feels Yixing’s thumbs grazing his knuckles, and hears a snicker from Yixing.

“Ah…well, what do you say we announce it in lunch tomorrow, how does that sound? No one will know until then. It won’t be anything big, though we might get some loud reactions from them, knowing them…”

Jongdae nods, a smile on his face.

“Hey…”

Jongdae raises his eyebrows with an expectant look.

“You’re not going to get rid of me easily, you know that? It’ll be almost like before today, but a little different now that we’re together. Know that I’ll be always by your side, no matter what; when you call for me, I’ll be there in an instant; I don’t care if you wish that you could see me; I have eyes for the two of us.

“I’ll be your eyes and your backbone, Zhongda, as long as we’re together. I love you, Zhongda. I really do. I can’t imagine life with you in it.” With his eyes on Jongdae’s face, showing pure happiness, Yixing brushes his lips on each and every one of Jongdae’s knuckles on their intertwined hands before lowering them down.

Jongdae cannot suppress the smile that is threatening to show on his face. “I don’t want you to leave me, either. Thank you for always being there for me, Yixing-ge. Can we make a promise?”

“Sure.”

“As friends having gone through thick and thin, through the bad and good times in the years past, we’ve made it this far to become a couple today. Let’s promise that we will continue to uphold our lifelong bond that we have, that we’ll never leave each other’s side. Can you promise me that, Yixing-ge?”

“As your boyfriend, and as your best friend and lover, I promise you with all my heart.”

Jongdae feels as if his heart is going to burst with happiness.

“Come closer, you have something on your cheek.”

Jongdae is puzzled at the random statement, but does not hesitate to lean forward.

“Closer…” Yixing has a playful teasing tone in his voice, but Jongdae is too deep in his bafflement to catch that tone.

Jongdae leans more forward, craning his neck further.

**_A gentle grip on Jongdae’s chin…_ **

**_A small faint ghost of breath against Jongdae’s lips…_ **

**_Lips bump into each other before Jongdae feels the gentle pressure from Yixing’s lips…_ **

Jongdae is slightly taken aback but recovers quickly to reciprocate, smiling into the kiss.

The lovers then pull apart, their foreheads resting against each other.

“There’s our relationship, sealed with a kiss,” Yixing says, before brushing his nose against Jongdae’s. Jongdae chuckles.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

“So you guys actually got together…Why am I not surprised, hyung?” JB says with a smile, during lunchtime on Tuesday, while everyone is giving high fives to Yongguk and patting Himchan on his back in congratulations.

“Yeah, and why couldn’t you guys tell us that over the weekend, you know? You kept this between the three of you for the past three days!” Youngjae looks indignantly between Himchan, Yongguk and Jieun.

“Sorry, Youngjae-yah… We had to work on our final project at Himchan’s music studio. It’s a good thing, ‘cause we found the place a lot more _convenient_ than the campus’ music studios for the time being. We didn’t even have to worry about the neighbors.” Yongguk glances at Himchan with a wink, and Himchan nearly chokes on his food.

“YAH!” Himchan’s face is beet-red as he coughs a little. His hands failed to cover Jongup’s ears in time when Yongguk made a suggestive reference, ending up with his arms around Jongup’s shoulders. Himchan swallows his food. “WE’RE ALL EATING. I’M EATING.”

Everyone in their tables pause their conversations to look at Himchan. Earlier, Chanshik and Dasom had left their friends for a short time to join Kyungsoo and Daehyun, and the four of them were talking about their classes and what they would be up to for the next few weeks. Kyungsoo then informs Daehyun that Himchan was screaming something about all of them eating. All eyes are on Himchan before Jongup speaks up.

“H-hyung? The two of you were just playing loud music and instruments in the garage, that’s what you said.” Jongup looks at his brother, a bit puzzled by his actions.

“That’s what we did, Jonguppie!” Himchan says in a rushed manner. “We were working hard and experimenting sound effects for our project! Well…most of the time, and it’s like 98% of the time.”

“Mm...more like 75%,” Yongguk laughs haughtily. Hichan has never looked so flustered.

“I…don’t even wanna know about the remaining 25%,” Youngjae mutters, giving a long stare at JB, “I pray that the 25% involves having a meal or something…”

Jieun giggles as she watches the commotion.

“Yah, _Yongguk_ ,” Himchan glares at his boyfriend, who is feigning innocence. “Could you _not_ say any more about our pri...vate _music_ sessions?”

“What, that I was drumming on you while we were talking dirty, and you were blowing on your hyang wood stick?”

Himchan opens and closes his mouth several times, looking shocked and enraged, before he makes a squawking noise. He looks around at his friends, who are looking confused, surprised, appalled or gleefully shocked. He regains his composure before explaining, “F-F-For your information,” – Himchan points at Luhan, who was looking giddy – “he was playing my _buk_ , the big drum” – he then points at Joonmyeon’s surprised face – “…and we were freestyle rapping, well _I_ tried to rap” – he then points at his boyfriend, Yongguk, who had his gummy smile – “…and I was playing the Daegeum, not Hyangbipa. That’s the lute. Daegeum is the flute. Get it in your head already!”

“My head definitely got you hooked.” Yongguk winks, before giving in once he sees Himchan having a murderous look on his face. “Okay, okay. Calm down, Grumpy Gills, I was just messing with you. Stop acting like a fish. I won’t say anything more,” Yongguk grins at his lover, earning a kick to his leg under the table. Wincing a little, Yongguk chuckles and continues on, “We were seriously working on our project though, so we didn’t really have the time to tell anyone about our relationship. We didn’t even do anything as a couple, well okay, maybe just a little lip action here and the-“

“OKAY, THAT’S IT, YONGGUK. YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT YOU DON’T FREAKING KISS AND TELL.” Himchan looks as if he is about to burst. Everyone is laughing at the sight of Himchan looking mortified and indignant at Yongguk’s lines.

“Okay, okay, princess.” Yongguk flashes a smile. “I’ll keep it down. But we got a good start on our project anyway, so we’ll get it done way before the deadline.”

Everyone nod their approvals, and cheer for the two of them to do well. It is not long afterwards does Luhan makes an announcement.

“Speaking of deadlines, me, Yixing, Jongin-ah, Sehun-ah and Jongup-ah will be having our auditions in a few weeks. You guys are more than welcome to come and watch!” Everyone murmurs and some are nodding, wanting to check the event out. Afterwards, they look around to see if there are any more announcements, and finding none, before they once again fall into different conversations.

Youngjae shoots Jieun a question, remembering something. “Ah, noona…?”

“What is it, Youngjae-yah?”

“How do you feel about Yongguk-hyung and Himchan-hyung being together, and why are you not with them? Isn’t Yongguk bi though?”

“Ahhh…smart guy you are,” Jieun praises Youngjae for catching on the hidden message in Yongguk’s announcement earlier – “Now y’all will know him as my boyfriend, _my only one_ ,” Yongguk said – “Actually, I broke up with Yongguk-ah, and Hyosung-unnie also broke up with Himchan-ah. She and I had planned this together a while back, so no regrets.”

“WHAT?!” Youngjae exclaims as he makes to stand up, and JB holds his shoulder to calm him down. Jieun, Jongup, Yongguk and Himchan look at him in mild surprise. A few neighboring group members also glance at him with questioning looks before they resume their conversations. “I mean, sorry. That’s a...shock…when you two have been together all this time. So you and Hyosung-noona planned this, and the two of you were okay with that?”

“Mhm. Yongguk and Himchan are much better off with each other, you can see how obviously they adore each other.”

Yongguk and Himchan exchange looks before Yongguk sticks out his tongue in a playful manner and Himchan rolls his eyes and fails to resist a grin on his face.

“Everyone, we have another announcement to hear!”

\- - -

After Himchan’s outburst, Yixing and Jongdae comment on Yongguk and Himchan’s relationship, and what Yongguk had said that earned different reactions from everyone. They then start talking about their own decision to announce their official status to the group.

“What do you think, shall we make an announcement as well right now?” Yixing is holding Jongdae’s hand under the table as he nudges Jongdae gently on the shoulder.

Jongdae smiles and nods shyly, “Whenever you’re ready, gege.”

Yixing brings up their intertwined hands to his lips and kisses the back of Jongdae’s hand.

Zitao and Luhan happen to catch the couple’s intimate moment, and Luhan reacts with a gleeful, amazed look on his face. He looks at Zitao, who is looking back at him with a wide grin. Luhan nudges Zitao, whispering, “Look at these two, they finally got together!” Zitao nods, his eyes crinkling in amusement.

Luhan pokes Sehun and whispers closely to his ear, “They finally confessed!” Sehun looks over to where Yixing and Jongdae are sitting, and he smiles at the sight of them being subtly lovey-dovey and in their own world. Luhan then turns to his brother, whispering, “Yah, Xingtuo, did you two confess over the weekend too?”

Yixing looks to Luhan with a smile at his nickname. He shakes his head amusedly, “What, no. Gege, if we did, we probably would have told you sooner than today. You’d probably be the first to know. But we confessed yesterday actually, so this will be the first time everyone will hear about it, even you.”

“Ah~ I see,” Luhan nods in acknowledgement and gently takes ahold of Jongdae’s hand. Jongdae’s face turns slightly to the direction of Luhan’s hand. “Jongdae-yah, Yixing’s a wonderful guy. I always knew you two were meant for each other, I’m really glad you guys finally got together.” Luhan lets go of Jongdae’s hand to pat it before he shouts.

“Everyone, we have another announcement to hear!” Luhan misses the look of protest that Yixing shoots in his direction, as he looks around the table. Yixing glances at Jongdae and gently squeezes his hand twice, wondering if Jongdae is still okay with the timing of the announcement. Jongdae nods with a smile.

Every head turns to Yixing’s direction as he stands up.

“As of yesterday, Zhongda and I are officially a couple too.”

Cheers erupt from the group, earning looks from the surrounding tables. The group has been really noisy that day, with all the yelling and cheering going on.

“FINALLY, IT WAS ABOUT TIME!” Luhan’s voice pierces through the sounds of clapping and whooping.

“You know what Shakespeare would say?” Yongguk comments to Himchan, who looks at him astonished and grinning, shaking his head. Yongguk says in English, as he has always done with Shakespeare’s lines, “ _‘Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind’, Midsummer Night’s Dream.”_ Himchan shakes his head amusedly, recognizing the foreign language.

“Sometimes I can’t believe how you, of all the people I’ve met, would know these lines from Shakespeare. It’s startling how you know the right lines to say for the right moments…yet you can be so cocky and never know when to shut up.”

“That’s Yongguk for you, Himchannie~” Jieun singsongs.

“Has he ever been like that with you, Jieun-ah?” Himchan is getting used to regarding his peers affectionately. “With the Shakespeare lines?”

Jieun shakes her head. “Nah, but he was a romantic though, he likes to be cocky sometimes but his considerate nature makes up for it. He knows how to get to a girl’s heart with his unique serenades and his actions, or a guy’s heart, really. He has his ways, no one knows how he does it.”

“Damn right, no one does. I am a true pro,” Yongguk smiles as he holds both Jieun’s hand and Himchan’s hand, lifting them to kiss the back of their hands. He then nips on the back of Himchan’s hand lightly.

“Yongguk, p-please,” Himchan splutters as he looks around. Yongguk snickers, lowering his hand that is intertwined with Jieun’s down to the table. He still holds his hand with Himchan’s up near his face.

“Himchan…you know you lik-”

“I didn’t say anything about liking th- _AAHH!_ ” Himchan gasps in shock and shudders when Yongguk licks the back of his hand, and Yongguk flashes his gummy smile at him. He squeals and tries to wrestle his hand out of Yongguk’s firm hold.

Ignoring Himchan’s protests, Yongguk places several kisses on his knuckles, making Himchan blush. “Yongguk, I hate you. Why are you so cheesy and everything? _Goodness._ Stop it. I said stop it,” Himchan snaps weakly when Yongguk continues to play with his hand, nipping on his fingers, “stop playing with my fingers, you’re making me feel all weird. EEK! YONGGUK. _NO_.”

Himchan jumps in his seat when Yongguk inserts one of Himchan’s fingers in his mouth, his eyes twinkling as his lips curl inwards to protect the finger from being bitten by his teeth. Himchan moans weakly when he feels the playful flick of Yongguk’s tongue against his fingertip, and he feels his cheeks becoming warm. Himchan struggles his hand out of Yongguk’s grasp, before Yongguk lets it go. Himchan shoots a feeble glare at his boyfriend, wiping his finger on his shirt. Youngjae and JB watch on with wary looks, before exchanging glances and shrugging at each other.

Jongup is watching his brother with a slight amusement on his face, chuckling with Jieun. He glances to his left and notices Jongin and Joonmyeon watching their boyfriend and chatting with Sehun and Luhan. His eyes flicker over to Daehyun, who is signing to Kyungsoo, Chanshik, Dasom and Zitao.

[…NOT THINK BEAR CAN READ ANOTHER CHAPTER. BOOK **DULL** . *Daehyun does an exaggerated eyeroll* I WANT READ SOMETHING FROM…NOT-KNOW…sh(NOT fs(SHAKESPEARE)), BUT SAME…MAYBE fs(HUGO)…#OR SOMEONE ELSE…sh(THAT BOOK) HORRIBLE BORING.] Daehyun signs to the group, and they laugh in agreement. _(…I don’t think I can bear reading another chapter from that book. It’s so dull…I wanna read something else from…I don’t know, not Shakespeare but like maybe Hugo, or…someone else. That book…it’s just terribly boring.)_

Jongup does not realize he has been staring at Daehyun for a while, with his chin resting on his palm and his elbow on the table, until Jongin playfully tickles him by poking his side. Jongup jerks in his seat, snapping out of his daze to look at his friend.

“What?”

“What?” Jongin counters back teasingly. “You’ve been staring at Daehyun-hyung for some time. Is something the matter?”

Jongup glances back at the group and almost jumps in his seat when he sees Daehyun’s eyes on him. The others are also glancing at him, having just noticed their friend’s actions.

“N-no, nothing’s the matter. I-I wasn’t staring, I was just…thinking.” Jongup hastily makes an excuse. He fails to hear a soft “Uh-huh, that’s what I said when I first saw Kyungsoo-hyung and look how it turned out” from Jongin as he lowers his arm quickly and turns away from Daehyun. He hastens to make himself look busy and focused on Himchan’s conversation with Yongguk about the music project.

Later into the conversation, Jongup feels his attention dwindling before he glances back at Daehyun. Daehyun is busy waving Chanshik and Dasom goodbye with Kyungsoo, as the two go back to their group of friends. He notices that when Kyungsoo and Daehyun turn around, Chanshik and Dasom are holding hands.

 _I didn’t think they’d be a couple, but I guess they seem to have liked each other a lot for some time…_ Jongup thinks to himself, before he looks back to the deaf duo.

As Kyungsoo and Daehyun pick up their conversation from where they left off, Jongup is getting better at understanding sign language, watching Daehyun most of the time. He has learned a majority of general signs of school and home, except for subjects such as philosophy and history.

For the second time, Jongup makes eye contact with Daehyun, and he quickly looks away, anywhere but at Daehyun. Jongup wonders to himself, _Will Daehyun and I ever be like Jongdae-hyung and Yixing-hyung, having a relationship like that? I kind of want to hope so…_ Jongup fidgets in his seat, thinking about how he wants to tell Daehyun how he feels, until Jongin interrupts his thoughts to talk with him about their chemistry class.

\- - -

When lunch is over and everyone is getting up to go to their schedules, Jongup quickly asks Kyungsoo for a moment before he leaves with Daehyun and Jongin to the library. A bit puzzled, Kyungsoo stays behind. Daehyun leaves, unaware that Kyungsoo was being held up by Jongup. He walks for a few seconds until he looks to one side, expecting Kyungsoo to be with him, but his friend is not there. He turns around and spots Kyungsoo talking with Jongup, but before he can see what they are talking about, he feels a tap on his shoulder. He whirls around to see Jongin, who nods towards the library; Daehyun hesitates, looking behind, but decides to follow him anyway.

Kyungsoo is watching Jongup with an expectant look. “What’s up, Jongup-ah?”

Jongup shuffles his feet on the ground as he tries to find the words to ask Kyungsoo. “Hyung, I’d…like to know what’s the sign for…‘I like you’? If there is an American sign for it…like, I don’t want the ‘Johahae’ sign but…uhm…the English ‘I like you’ sign,” Jongup asks nervously.

Kyungsoo looks at Jongup with slightly widened eyes, “Are you telling me that you have a confession to make to Daehyun?”

“Ye- I mean maybe. I don’t know. I just want to know, just in case.”

“Just in case, what?” Kyungsoo has a hint of smile adding to his already widened, interested eyes.

“Nothing, hyung. It’s just a silly question to ask, anyway.” Jongup brushes off the topic.

“Alright, alright, here. I’ll show you.” Kyungsoo makes a gesture of three signs.

“Oh…” Jongup murmurs as he watches Kyungsoo before attempting to imitate the gestures: pointing to his chest; his hand making a gesture of pulling something with his middle finger and thumb outwards from his chest; pointing to Kyungsoo. “Like that?”

“Mhm,” Kyungsoo nods. “Simple as that.”

“Hmm…what about ‘I love you’?”

Kyungsoo smiles, his eyes twinkling. “Well it’s the same format as ‘I like you’, but instead of ‘like’, this is ‘love’.” He crosses his hands on his chest with palms on top of each other, almost like protecting his heart.

Jongup tries to remember Kyungsoo’s actions, pointing to himself, crossing his hands over his heart, and then pointing at Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo nods in approval. “That’s all there is to it. Anyway, Jongup-ah, I gotta get going to the library, you best go on with Sehun-ah to your history class. But I promise, I won’t tell Daehyun about this. Your secret’s safe with me, Jongup-ah.” Kyungsoo pats Jongup’s shoulder before saying goodbye, and he turns to catch up with Jongin and Daehyun.

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

The next day brings a surprise to Jongup, when he finds himself practicing in front of a mirrored wall, in one of the available small dance rooms on campus.

He loses himself in dancing freestyle to one of his favorite songs, Turn Up the Music by Chris Brown, and does not hear the knock on the unlocked door nor does he register the reflection of a door moving in the mirror, allowing a certain visitor to come in quiet and unannounced like a cat.

Jongup does a double take when a movement in the mirror catches his eye, and his breath hitches in his throat as he stops mid-dancing. He turns around to face the last person he would think to see in the dancing room.

“H-hyung…h-hi.”

Standing in front of the door, clothed in a hoodie, jeans and a plaid brown and blue shirt, is Daehyun. The eye smile on his face shows off a sense of genuine pride in his dongsaeng’s natural talent.

[SURPRISE! HI, nh(MUSIC REAL NEAT) GOOD BEAT+ “BOOM”+++. FEEL INSIDE BODY AND FLOOR! I LIKE! v(WHY STOP)v CONTINUE DANCE, nh(CONTINUE) PRETEND ME sh(NOT HERE), ME WATCH ONLY] Daehyun signs with expressions of glee and interest. _(Surprise!! Hey Jongup-ah! Ooh, the music’s really neat; it has good beats. Boom, boom, boom, boom. I can feel it in my body and on the floor! I like this! But why’d you stop dancing? Go on, continue!! Pretend I’m not here, I’ll only be watching you.)_ He finds a chair nearby the door and takes his seat.

It has been a couple of months since Jongup first learned the alphabet and now, he has been improving on his signing and translation skills without the need of an interpreter. And so Jongup understands what Daehyun is saying, though Daehyun signs to him in a slightly slower pace than how he usually signs with Kyungsoo, Baekhyun, Yongguk and Youngjae.

Jongup smiles and nods as he turns around to face the mirrored wall, getting ready to find his entrance into the song. In a matter of few seconds that Jongup is about to dance, he realizes that the song is almost ending. He stops in his movement as he hears the fading beats, signaling that the song is over. Smiling, he facepalms, before he turns around to make his way to the speakers.

On his way, he glances at Daehyun, who is looking at him with a bemused expression. He signs to Daehyun that the music has ended, so he will just replay the song. He presses the “previous track” button, and the song comes back alive through the speakers.

The music starts again with the smooth electronic and hip-hop beats bouncing off the walls. Jongup positions himself in front of the mirror, and prepares his body to move with the music.

Daehyun watches in anticipation as Jongup takes a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. Before Daehyun knows it, Jongup has opened them and his body starts moving automatically with the music, showing off a soft yet powerful choreography. As Daehyun watches Jongup dancing, he is amazed and almost overwhelmed with the contrast of ferocity and sleekness of Jongup’s dancing.

Jongup continues to perform with slick moves and smooth footwork for the next two minutes. When the chorus comes on for the third time, he starts gyrating his hips and looks at Daehyun, who is quite impressed with his moves. When he gets to the slow hip-hop beats, he starts to do chest pops and limb waves while gliding across the dance floor. He glances back at Daehyun for a few seconds, smirking before he turns his focus back to the mirror.

Daehyun is now in complete awe of how well his younger friend dances, his mouth slightly open with an upward curve on the corner of his mouth. When it is all over, Jongup ends with a smooth turn and a nice pose, facing Daehyun.

“Whooa~”, is all that Daehyun says when he claps. [ME “EYES-WOW”. NATURAL SKILL HAVE. ALL POP-CHEST, LIMB WAVES, AND FOOTWORK LOOK HARD TRY!] _(I am really amazed. You have such a natural skill in dancing. All those chest pops, limb waves, and footwork look hard to pull off!)_

Jongup signs back [THANK-YOU] with a bright smile. Daehyun continues to praise his friend and then he asks Jongup, [HEY, ^(CAN SHOW-ME ANOTHER)^ “?” v(WHAT ABOUT DANCE AUDITION YOUR)v ^(CAN SEE)^ ^(SECRET)^ “?”] _(Jongup-ah, can you show me another dance? Maybe your audition piece? May I see it, or is it a secret?)_

[sh(NO++) nh(CAN). TITLE WALL TO WALL _^(BY WHO)^_ fs(CHRIS BROWN). SPREAD-OUT FEW YEAR AGO. WAIT PLEASE.] _(No, you can see it! It’s “Wall to Wall” by Chris Brown. It came out a few years ago. Please wait.)_ Jongup signs to Daehyun as he walks over to the music speakers to change the music; Daehyun nods in understanding. Jongup then takes off his shirt, revealing a slightly sweaty A-shirt with toned muscles underneath.

Daehyun’s eyes widen slightly at the build of his younger friend. He holds his breath when he sees the shirt riding up on his hips, and he hums softly at the sight of the exposed V lines on Jongup’s waist. He notices how the air around him seems to be getting warm. _Is it just me, or is it getting warmer in here?_ He starts to take off his jacket and places it on his lap.

Daehyun watches with a fast-beating heart as Jongup turns on the fan that is suspended on one corner of the room. He gulps as he stares a little too long at Jongup’s arms and the way his shirt clings to his defined abs. He squirms in his seat when he feels a stirring in his pants. He tries to look around, anywhere but Jongup’s body, but his eyes keep drawing back to it. His mind starts to get filled with images of his hands roaming on Jongup’s sweaty torso, and with Jongup’s smirks. He is thankful his jacket is on his lap, because his pants are now starting to feel a little tight.

Jongup turns to ask Daehyun. [^(“NOT-MIND” ME-BEING)^ KINDA HOT #ON #AC]. _(You don’t mind if I’m like this? It’s a little hot in here so I just had to turn on the fan.)_

Daehyun gulps. Putting on a smile, he shakes his head. [YOUR PLACE, NOT MINE]. _(It’s your place, not mine.)_ Jongup chuckles.

When the smooth hip-hop beats resound in the music room and Daehyun can feel the bass, he nods his head to the music and watches Jongup expectantly. Jongup smiles at the sight of his friend swaying and they make eye contact before Jongup looks away to the mirror for preparation.

_~Pull up, pull up, can’t believe the girls, club packed~_

When Chris Brown starts to sing through the speakers, Jongup puts on a powerful choreography, more intense and sharper than the previous one. He does not see the look of awe on Daehyun’s face as he continues to spin a few times on the spot.

_~They packed up in here wall to wall and I don’t hear nothing but ladies calling~_

Jongup is so focused in his choreography that he has not really made any time to glance at his hyung, showing off some b-boy moves and slick mid-jump moves.

_~So many look good in here, I don’t even know which one I want~_

When the song reaches a slow part, Jongup starts to dance sexily and for one second, he hesitates to do something he has not done in the choreography, but he is willing to be bold and try it out.

_~All I know is that I’m feeling this party, and you can see I’m so with it~_

And so, reaching Chris Brown’s line, “I’m so with it”, Jongup does a few chest rolls as he drags his shirt upwards to reveal his abs. He smirks at the mirror, relishing in the cool air on his skin. He glances at Daehyun in the mirror, and his smirk falters at what he sees.

Daehyun is staring not at Jongup in the mirror, but directly at him with an unreadable expression, and it causes Jongup to slow down in his choreography, his shirt still hooked up. Jongup turns his focus to Daehyun behind him, and he starts to feel a little nervous, as the music continues to go on.

_~And I’m tryna give one of them all this, but they keep coming from wall to wall~_

Releasing his shirt, it drops down to its original place as Jongup turns his body to face Daehyun. He asks, [<HYUNG>…^(YOU #OK)^ “?”] _(Hyung…are you okay?)_

Daehyun continues to watch Jongup, slowly looking uncomfortable. Shaking himself out of his reverie, Daehyun immediately stands up, not looking at Jongup. With his jacket hanging on his arm a little lower than his chest, he signs to him with one hand as he hurries to the exit, his eyes not meeting Jongup’s eyes. [CLASS SOON ME. “GOOD-LUCK” PRACTICE. “SEE-LATER”] _(I have class soon. Good luck with your rehearsal. See you later.)_ With that, he shows a tight-lipped smile before he slips out through the door.

“Oh…okay.” [“OH-I-SEE” #OK] Jongup says weakly, his legs too delayed to react on Daehyun’s sudden exit. The loud click on the door resounds in the room, heard briefly over the lines of _“Yeah, smash on the radio, but I penned it.”_

The loud click makes Jongup feel a little ashamed of performing that bold move, which apparently made Daehyun feel uncomfortable. Even though that move was for Daehyun alone to watch, he still regrets his decision to do it. He turns to the mirror, as the last of the four repetitive lines is sung, and it fades into instrumental break.

Jongup looks at his speakers and goes over to turn them off. He thinks back to yesterday when Kyungsoo showed him the signs. Jongup brings his hands up again and tries to remember how to do it.

“I…Like…You. I…Love…You.”

Jongup succeeds in getting them right. He brightens at his efforts before his mind thinks back on Daehyun.

 _But Daehyun-hyung doesn’t have class,_ Jongup thinks to himself. _It’s Wednesday…_

~~~~~~~~~~lknb~~~~~~~~~~

In the couple of weeks since the confession, unfortunately for Yongguk and his _almost_ uncontrollable desire for his lover, he and Himchan have often been going back and forth between the campus’ music studios and Himchan’s studio, so Yongguk did not have the chance to be intimate with Himchan. They had to keep retuning any sound qualities that they feel their song is lacking. They have recently titled their song, “Never Give Up”, with Yongguk and Junhong rapping; Junhong has pulled off his rapping skills very well under the guidance of his older brother. Himchan has also played several instruments that could almost imitate a human singing voice for the chorus, as well as the drums that stood out in the instrumental break of the song.

Yongguk feels lucky that he and Himchan are working together, being in such a compatible relationship. They give their best efforts to this project and are able to have fun, laughing and joking around in the campus studios. However, when they are back at Himchan’s music studio at his home, it is a different story.

Yongguk has made frequent subtle advances to Himchan over the weeks since they became a couple. Surprisingly, Himchan does not complain; he only moves away with a small smile if he feels uncomfortable, which he has felt less and less frequently over time. Yongguk continues to respect Himchan’s distance, waiting patiently for him to come out of his comfort zone. He is not exactly forcing him to be intimately close, even if he wants Himchan to be so.

Eventually, Himchan starts warming up to Yongguk by himself, and he starts to become comfortable being intimate with his boyfriend. One day, he finds himself moving closer to Yongguk as they listen to one of their prototype songs, and Yongguk instantly wraps his arms around Himchan’s torso without thinking. He shivers slightly from the feeling of Yongguk’s broad chest against his back, and from the way his arms are comfortably resting upon Yongguk’s arms, as they sway in time with their music playing. It is as far as they get in physical intimacy.

However, it is on two days when things get a little hotter for the two in Himchan’s music studio-garage, with passionate kissing, hands roaming, and moaning voices under the sounds of drums playing through the speakers, as Himchan straddles Yongguk’s lap.

Lately, while the couple has been busy working on their project, Jongup has been either rehearsing in the mini dance studio for his upcoming dance audition or working on the history project with Sehun.

On the night before the first one of Jongup’s long days, he talks with Himchan over dinner.

“Hyung, tomorrow I’m gonna be staying a little longer on campus, is that okay?”

Himchan stops in the middle of raising his fork to his mouth, looking a little alarmed at his younger brother. “What, why?”

“Because I need to practice my choreography and work with Sehun on our history project in the library.”

“Oh…okay. You sure you don’t want to use our garage to practice instead?” Himchan brings his fork to his mouth and eats his food.

“No no, it’s fine. You and Yongguk-hyung should use it for your project; the ones on campus are not always open. You guys should have it.” Jongup smiles.

Himchan stares at his brother warily and gulps his food. “But…how late are you gonna be there?”

“Uhm…maybe until 6 or 7PM.”

“That long?!” Himchan’s eyes widen. “O-okay, well, I…I can definitely pick you up at that time. Yongguk and I don’t have to work so much on our pro-”

“Oh, it’s okay. Sehun’s having his hyung picking us up and he’ll dr-”

“No.” Himchan says with a hard voice, almost slamming his fork down. Jongup jumps from the sudden action, staring up at his brother nervously.

“It’s okay, hyung. I’ve met him once, Kibum-hyung’s really nice. He doesn’t go to our school, thou-”

“No, I don’t want anyone to drive you. You only met him _once_?? What if he’s not what he seems? And you’re already calling him hyung! Last time this happened, it was with Joonmyeon-ah, and I was okay with that because he goes to our school. But this is someone who doesn’t go to our school, and I don’t know who is this Kibum, anyway. I can’t trust anyone driving you home. Really, Jonguppie, I can just come and pick you up, it’s fine.”

“Hyung, you’re gonna be working on the project with Yongguk-hyung for some time, and I don’t want to be a burden to you.”

“You’re not being a burden, you’re my responsibility, Jonguppie.”

“I…” Jongup falters after hearing the seriousness in his brother’s voice. He can see the concern in Himchan’s eyes. “I’m really glad that you think so, but sometimes you need to realize, I’m also an adult. Hyung, I’m almost 19. Trust me on this.”

Himchan chews on his bottom lip, pondering. He does not realize how deep in his thoughts he is until Jongup places a hand on his. He snaps out of his daze to see Jongup looking up at him with a small smile.

“It’ll be okay, hyung. Trust me. Anyway, you will meet Kibum tomorrow night once he drops me off. Sehun’s riding with me, too. Would that make you feel better?”

\- - -

The next evening, as Himchan and Yongguk sit around in the living room, their soundtrack almost nearing completion, Himchan glances at the clock located in the entertainment center under the television. They hear a car parking outside and doors opening and closing. It is only a few seconds later that they hear the sound of their front door opening when Jongup arrives home and announces that Kibum-hyung and Sehun are with him. The couple stands up, and when Himchan sees Kibum, he makes a sudden noise of recognition.

“KEY?!”

“Wha…” Kibum, though a little ruffled, recovers quickly and exclaims back. “Hey! Channie?! You’re Jongup’s brother!”

Yongguk has never felt more unnerved by the nickname.

“It’s been a long time!” Laughing, Himchan walks up to hug Kibum. Yongguk feels a wave of jealousy washing over his body, before he, Sehun and Jongup exchange looks of confusion. “I didn’t think I’d see you around after high school!”

“I know! And I even told you I was gonna be studying abroad in England for some time after we graduated! Well that hasn’t happened yet, but it may happen sometime in the future!”

“I didn’t even think you would be the Kibum-hyung that is brothers with Jongin and Sehun! Ah, wait! That’s right, you did mention you had some brothers and one younger sister. That must’ve been years ago!” Himchan claps a hand to his forehead in awe.

Yongguk watches Kibum with a hard gaze, as Himchan and Kibum stand around, reminiscing the old days. Himchan then informs Kibum that he really appreciates what he is doing for Jongup.

“Ah, it’s fine! And…who is this?” Kibum’s eyes glance over to Yongguk, who is standing behind Himchan. Himchan turns around and realizes with a jolt that he has forgotten his boyfriend. He gulps when he sees a spark of anger in Yongguk’s eyes, boring at him, demanding him to explain.

“Erm…heh, Kibum-goon.” Himchan chuckles weakly. “This is my boyfriend, Bang Yongguk. Yongguk-ah, thi-”

“I know. Kim Kibum.” Yongguk interrupts with a slight sting in his voice. Himchan scratches the back of his neck, feeling guilty and awkward.

“Whoa, boyfriend, Channie-yah? _Boyfriend?_ Did something happen to you along the way? Because I clearly remember you claimed yourself to be straight back then; I was the gay one out of us two.”

“Yeah, Yongguk happened.” Himchan giggles.

“ _Oho_ ,” Kibum says, pleased with this. He looks over to Yongguk, whose expression has remained unchanged. His eyebrow twitches in concern. “Excuse me, are you alright? You look a little jealous.”

“I’m not jealous.” Yongguk says quickly, his eyes darting over to Kibum. His lips suddenly curve into a forced smile.

“Uh-huh, and I’m not gay.” Kibum says with his head moving to one side and one arm akimbo, an obvious sassy behavior. Yongguk’s eyebrows knit with confusion. Himchan, Sehun and Jongup notice the slightly tense atmosphere in the living room.

“Yongguk-ah…Gukkie… _please_ ,” Himchan whispers behind his smile as he begs his boyfriend to be courteous, his head slightly nodding towards Kibum. Yongguk clears his throat, staring at Himchan, before he glances to Kibum and moves toward him to shake hands.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Well, nice to meet you, too, Mr. Incredibly-Jealous-Boyfriend-Who-Assumed-Himchan-and-I-Had-A-History-Together-But-He-Was-Oh-So-Wrong-Since-We-Were-Only-Just-Friends. You do remember Himchan was straight when I met him, right? Like, I just said that not too long ago. Silly, no need to get all worked up.” Kibum smirks upon seeing Yongguk huff his tension out, but he accepts the handshake gesture.

Kibum turns to face Himchan, chuckling. “Goodness, Himchan, you got yourself a keeper. Jonghyunnie is almost like Yongguk, except” – Kibum glances at Yongguk – “there’s a height difference.”

\- - -

After Kibum and Sehun left with Himchan inviting Kibum to come over anytime, and the Moon brothers and Yongguk have eaten dinner, Jongup retreats to his bedroom to work on some homework, while Yongguk and Himchan are working on their project in the garage. Himchan feels a little happier after his encounter with an old schoolmate; unfortunately, Yongguk notices the mood, and studies his boyfriend before he brings up the subject.

“Ahem…so…this Kibum…is apparently the Key you knew back in high school.”

Himchan looks up from his sheets, and meets Yongguk’s steely gaze.

“Mhm, he was a classmate of mine. When we first met, we _hated_ each other; I hated his blunt honesty, he hated my arrogance. We had some fights here and there, more verbal than physical, and he had more sass than I did. So much more. But then we got along after he found out I was raising my brother alone. He was so curious as to why I kept leaving school right on time and coming to school a little early.

“We were pretty smart, among the several top students in our classes. He taught me English too, but needless to say, I have not been practicing my English for some time since graduation, so my skill’s not that great.” Himchan smiles at the memories. “He was a cool guy, seriously. It’s funny though, I only saw him in school, and I’ve never been to his place or anything, because I had work and all, even though he and I had a good connection, you know?” He looks back to his music sheets.

“Ah…I see.” Yongguk grates his teeth behind closed lips.

Himchan notices how terse Yongguk has been. He looks up again and sees his boyfriend facing him with a frown, his eyes out of focus. He smiles to himself, feeling a little giddy at how his boyfriend gets so easily jealous over nothing. He dares himself to make a move on Yongguk, slowly getting up from his chair and walking up to him.

Yongguk continues to stare out in space, his mind not registering the fact that Himchan has relocated himself to his lap, getting comfortable. It is only when Himchan places his arms around Yongguk’s shoulders that Yongguk snaps out of his thoughts, and looks up to see Himchan smiling down at him.

“Hey babe,” Himchan chuckles at his experiment of calling Yongguk a nickname. “Welcome back. Are you done being jealous for tonight?” He moves his hands to tangle in Yongguk’s hair, lazily scratching his head.

Yongguk chuckles at the sensation, and places one hand on Himchan’s hip and the other on the back of Himchan’s head. He pulls Himchan closer towards him to share an intimate brief kiss.

A soft, tentative brushing of the lips leads to twinkling eyes and a much more passionate clashing of mouths with light groans. When they are about to pull away, Himchan catches Yongguk’s bottom lip with his teeth and tugs on it gently, eliciting a breathy laugh from Yongguk. In reply, Yongguk brushes his nose against his boyfriend’s.

“This certainly made me feel a lot better now.”

\- - -

Himchan continues to shy away from Yongguk’s advances whether in the studio, because he values it as a sacred space, or in his bedroom, because he thinks he is not ready for sex. Even though he had Hyosung as his girlfriend back then, they never had sex; Himchan was too busy for such needs, and he never went further than just kissing and holding hands with Hyosung. Therefore, he considers himself to be lacking in sex appeal. Yongguk is patient however, as he tells his curious Himchan about the good things and the risks.

“But…you won’t be like that, nor do that, to me…will you?” Himchan laces his hands with Yongguk’s subconsciously on a Wednesday afternoon in his studio. They are once again in an embrace, this time on the floor, with Himchan sitting between Yongguk’s legs, his back resting on Yongguk’s chest.

Yongguk murmurs into Himchan’s ear, “No, not unless you ask for it. I want you to be comfortable with where we’re going, I’m not forcing you to like it or do it now.” He raises one of their intertwined hands to kiss the back of Himchan’s hand, before he lowers it down and rests his chin on Himchan’s left shoulder, whispering, “I feel like I don’t just like you, but that I really do love you, Himchan-ah. I want you to have the best things in life anyway. You deserve it.” He places a kiss behind Himchan’s ear, a little above where the jaw connects with the ear. He chuckles when he feels Himchan shiver from the contact, before he nips gently at Himchan’s ear.

“Y-yah… _stop_ ,” Himchan shudders as Yongguk chuckles in his sensitive ear. “Yah, my ear is sensitive, sto-mmngh, _Yong-g-guk_.” Yongguk continues to nip at his boyfriend’s ear as he releases their hands and his hands start roaming upwards under Himchan’s shirt, on Himchan’s sides and chest. The two of them fail to hear a soft knock on the door.

_“Mmm, Guk…”_

Himchan gives a shuddering breathy moan, his back pushing back on Yongguk’s chest in desire. His body twitches a few times, as he arches his back away from Yongguk’s chest, to feel more of the hands wandering across his torso. His hands are gripping tightly on Yongguk’s thighs. Yongguk kisses Himchan’s neck as he wraps his arms around his boyfriend’s waist.

**_KNOCK KNOCK…_ **

“ANGGGH! WE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!” Himchan exclaims as he quickly gets out of Yongguk’s hold, standing up in a hurry while looking at the front door, panting with his eyes wide. He almost stumbles from the dizziness due to both his rapid position change and from the pleasurable sensations he felt from his intimate moment with Yongguk. He feels his face becoming warm.

“Hyung, I just saw you and Yongguk-hyung get all touchy-feely, there’s no need to shout your denial,” Jongup says with a small smile, as he enters inside with a tray of food, and walks toward Himchan and Yongguk. “I knocked twice, but the first time you guys didn’t hear it. So I waited a few seconds after I accidentally peeked in and saw you two…doing that. But I had this tray of snacks so I couldn’t wait any longer.” Himchan facepalms himself as Yongguk gets up, chuckling.

“Have some, ok hyungs?” Yongguk and Himchan have wide grins plastered on their faces as they nod and thank Jongup, touched by his concern.

Jongup lays a tray of crackers, cheese, fruit and vegetables on the desk before giving Himchan a hug on the right side. “Are you guys okay, though? You don’t need a break, hyung?”

“Wha…” Raising his arm to wrap on Jongup’s shoulders, Himchan looks at Jongup before looking at Yongguk. “Y-yeah, we’re fine, Jonguppie.” He rakes his brother’s head with the same hand. Jongup and Himchan start to sway a little on their spots, still in an embrace.

“Well…it’s just that I haven’t really seen you around.” Jongup explains. “The only times when I do see you, and Yongguk-hyung, in the house is around dinnertime. ”

“Oh…really?” Himchan shoots the question to both Jongup and Yongguk, who nod and shrug respectively. “Well, if you feel lonely, you can always come in here anyway and listen to us talk about music and technical stuff. Doesn’t that sound boring to you though?”

“Nope, hyung,” Jongup answers cheerily.

Himchan ruffles Jongup’s hair before giving him a smile. “Yah, how did you…get here by the way? You’re very early…it’s like 4PM or something.”

“I walked.”

“YOU WALKED?!” Himchan’s smile drops as he gawks at his brother.

“With Sehun.”

“He’s here? Why??” Himchan glances at the door before looking back at Jongup.

“Cause we’re gonna be working on our history project. Kibum-hyung will pick him up when we’re done.”

“Oh…okay, that’s fine. But in that case, where’s Jongin?”

“Working on his geography project at the library with Kyungsoo-hyung and…Daehyun-hyung…” Jongup trails off, looking a bit uncomfortable. He snuggles a little closer, placing his cheek near his older brother’s right shoulder.

Himchan notices this and is about to ask his brother, when Yongguk interrupts, already aware of the tense vibe from the younger male.

“And Youngjae?”

“He’s with JB-hyung, studying too,” Jongup turns to look at Yongguk.

“Oh, alright then.”

“Yeah…well, I’ll leave you guys alone to your project, I don’t want to keep my guest waiting. Work hard, hyungs! But don’t forget to eat!” Jongup removes himself from Himchan’s arms and he feels Himchan staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

Jongup peers curiously at his hyung. “What is it, hyung?”

“Yah, did something happen between you and Daehyun? Something bad?”

Jongup’s face blushes and he lowers his head, speechless. Yongguk raises an eyebrow, glancing between the two brothers.

“I…don’t know. He hasn’t been talking to me for almost a couple of weeks, even if we saw each other at lunch. When we do talk at lunch, it’s just a few signs and then he’s talking with Kyungsoo-hyung. Last week Wednesday, during my dance practice, Daehyun-hyung surprised me with a visit, and wanted to see how I was doing. He asked me if I could show him some dance routines, and so I did, including my choreography for the audition. Right in the middle of my audition choreography, I did a small dance move for him to see but he left without saying much. He even lied to me saying that he had class that day, when I realized afterwards that he didn’t have afternoon classes on Wednesdays. It seems he has been mad at me since then or something.” Jongup frowns.

“Hm…that is weird,” Yongguk comments. Himchan nods before Yongguk continues, “Do you want me to talk to him?”

“Ah no, hyung, it’s okay. Maybe it’s temporary?” Jongup asks tentatively.

“Well, knowing Daehyun, he’ll come around soon. It’s not like him to stay mad or give people the cold shoulder or silent treatments for no longer than two weeks. He might have a reason for it, and that reason could be outside of school or something.”

“Okay, hyung, thanks though…anyway, I should get going though, Sehun’s waiting. See you later, hyungs!” Jongup smiles before he feels Himchan patting his bottom as he turns around to leave.

“We will. You too, Jongup-ah, and thank you for the snacks.” Yongguk claps Jongup’s back gently as he watches Jongup pass by, earning a nod from the young man. Himchan and Yongguk watch Jongup leave the garage with small smiles on their faces.

As soon as Jongup exits the garage and is out of earshot, Yongguk comments to Himchan, “Jonguppie’s a cute kid, very thoughtful. You raised him well.”

Himchan blushes, busying himself with one of the apple wedges, a really big apple wedge. He notices how some fruits are cut up irregularly, due to Jongup’s lacking skills in cutting up neatly. “Thanks,” he says softly before he pops the wedge in his mouth.


	24. A Date at the Fair Part 1

**T-minus 26 hours…** **_5PM._ **

**_Knock knock…_ **

Himchan goes to open the entry door, as he and Yongguk are planning to put some finishing touches on their music project. It is already December and the term is almost coming to an end, before the college students face a short winter break.

“Hi, Gukkie…oh hello, Daehyun-ah! What a surprise! Come on in and welcome to my home, Daehyun-ah.” Himchan steps aside to let the guys in, and steps onto the raised floor, waiting for the guys to take off their shoes in the entry area before they enter the house.

“Yeah, I didn’t know Daehyun was gonna tag along when he stopped by my apartment, because apparently Daehyun says he has a surprise for Jongup. But I don’t see anything materialistic that he’s giving to him, so I can safely guess Daehyun will be taking him somewhere, is that right?” Yongguk shoots a questioning glance at Daehyun. [NOT KNOW ns<DAEHYUN> “COME-WITH-ME” WHEN SHOW-UP MY #APARTMENT, BECAUSE SEEM YOU PLAN SURPRISE fs<JU>. BUT, sh(“HAVE-NONE” NOTHING SEE) GIVE-HIM, #SO GUESS YOU ^(PLAN “GO-TOGETHER-WITH” HIM LOCAL, RIGHT)^ “?”]

Daehyun nods before he raises his hands to sign, as Himchan and Yongguk look at him. “Si’krit plan haf. Wan’ ask Himchahn-‘yung okeh I tayk Shongup go mebbee doo park fair. ‘Aaahh’ cahn befo’ t’morro dans aud’shun,” Daehyun mutters, his hands faltering a bit towards the end, as Yongguk translates for Himchan at the same time. He has one shoulder raised in a gesture of asking a question. [nh(SECRET PLAN HAVE) I WANT ASK-HIM ^(FINE fs<J-U> COME WALK-TOGETHER MAYBE LOCAL #PARK FAIR)^  _ ^(WHY)^ _ #SO RELAX “CALM-DOWN” BEFORE TOMORROW DANCE AUDITION…]

Once Daehyun starts signing, Yongguk starts voicing for him to Himchan. “I have a secret plan” – Himchan shoots a look between the two guys, temporarily confused at why Yongguk is speaking from his own point of view when it is Daehyun signing. He instantly remembers Yongguk explaining to him a few weeks ago why generally as an interpreter, they use first-person view and not third-person view, as courtesy and as to include the speaker in the conversation – “but I want to ask you if it is okay that I take Jongup for a walk, perhaps to the local amusement park? That way we can relax and have fun, before his audition tomorrow night, you know?” Himchan slowly nods upon hearing Yongguk’s words, his eyes still on Daehyun.

“Ahn’…wan’ apol’jais ab’oat my beayvoor befo,” Daehyun ends his monologue with sagging shoulders. [AND APOLOGIZE ABOUT MY BEHAVIOR FEW WEEK-BEFORE]

“And…uh,” Yongguk peers curiously at Daehyun when there is a pause and Daehyun’s eyes are flickering between him and Himchan, “I also want to apologize Jongup for my behavior the past few weeks. Oh, remember what Jongup was telling us yesterday?” Yongguk looks to Himchan, the question directed at him.

Himchan has a look of realization on his face as his eyes flicker over to Yongguk at the memory and then back to Daehyun, who is looking back at him expectantly. He feels that a night out can do his younger brother some good.

“I…suppose that’s alright with me.” Himchan nods with a smile; Daehyun has a look of relief upon receiving approval. Himchan points with one of his thumbs in the general direction where Jongup’s bedroom is. “Let me go get Jongup. Wait here, and make yourself comfortable.” Himchan does a flourish of his hand with a smile, and Daehyun nods.

\- - -

Himchan knocks on Jongup’s door, calling out his name. After hearing no response, he checks inside. He sees Jongup on the bed with his headphones on, bobbing his head to the music while reading his history textbook. Shaking his head with a ghost of a smile on his face, Himchan makes his way towards his brother.

Jongup looks up immediately upon seeing a movement from the corner of his eyes. He greets his brother brightly as he takes off his headphones. “Hi hyung, what’s up?”

“Are you finished with your homework?”

“Yeah, I’m just reading this book for history. Why do you ask?”

“Take the night off; there’s a surprise in our living room.” Himchan has a small smile on his face.

Jongup frowns immediately, thinking what can it be. He scrambles out of bed, taking off his headphones to put them on his nightstand. He walks to the door, and pokes his head outside his door before leaving his bedroom. Himchan trails behind him.

Jongup looks further into the kitchen and the living room, and sees Yongguk seated at the long couch. Walking towards him, Jongup is about to greet him when he catches Daehyun sitting on one of the armchairs, next to Yongguk.

“Hi, Yon-…oh…hyung, w-what are you doing here?” [<HYUNG> v(WHY HERE)v] Jongup glances between his two hyungs as he hears Himchan walking up behind him.

Daehyun bites his lip before standing up to sign. “I wan’ aplojas my beayvoor, feel bahd. I rilly rilly sori, Shongup. If forgif me cahn, hope we cahn go out haffun. Zo you cahn reras befo t’morro dans au’shun.” [I WANT APOLOGIZE MY BEHAVIOR AND I FEEL BAD. I REALLY SORRY, fs<JU>. #IF FORGIVE-ME CAN, HOPE US-TWO GO-OUT FUN ENJOY, #SO YOU RELAX CAN NIGHT BEFORE YOUR DANCE AUDITION] Daehyun smiles.  _ (I want to apologize for my behavior lately, and I feel bad. I’m really sorry, Jongup. If you can forgive me, I hope you can come with me to go somewhere fun to enjoy for the night, so you can relax before your dance audition.) _

As Jongup watches Daehyun with a soft yet wary look, Yongguk watches on a little anxiously. Even though no one has properly voiced out what Daehyun is saying, Himchan can make out some of the words and understands; because the emotions on Daehyun’s face tells him what Daehyun is trying to say. He catches Daehyun’s apologetic, hopeful, and cheerful expressions, and he knows. Yongguk stands up and walks over to Himchan, passing by Jongup to clap on his shoulders gently.

Jongup stares at Daehyun for a while, not a single action to reply back. When Yongguk claps on his shoulder gently, he is shaken out of his daze and tries to think of something to say. Daehyun starts to feel awkward standing there with three people facing him, though Yongguk and Himchan are looking at Jongup. Finally, Jongup raises his hand.

“Ok,” [#OK] Jongup says, with a half-smile on his face. To Daehyun, it is not the Jongup smile that he knows, but it is a small start towards forgiveness. “I forgive you, hyung.” [FORGIVE-YOU]. Daehyun relaxes and beams at him, but Jongup still feels a little wary. Daehyun’s smile falters only slightly.

“Great,” Himchan says, smiling, a little oblivious to Jongup’s expression, being behind his brother the whole time. He walks up to Jongup before continuing. “Anyway, Yongguk and I should be going back to the garage now, we need to put some finishing touches on our project. Have fun, you guys!” With that, he pecks Jongup on the cheek and pats his bottom.

Jongup recoils back with a face expressing his discomfort, slightly blushing, “Ack, hyung, wh-“

“We’re in our house. Nothing wrong with that.”

“But our fri-“

“So?” Himchan smirks as he cuts in Jongup’s lines once again. With two fingers, he playfully prods Jongup’s temple before bring his hand to ruffle his brother’s head. Jongup falls silent and glances at Yongguk, who is looking very amused, and Daehyun, who looks like he is unsure of whether he should laugh or not.

{^(READY LEAVE)^ “?”} Daehyun signs, a little hesitantly, to Jongup.

“Am I ready to go?” Jongup murmurs to himself, looking down at his clothes. He is wearing a casual long-sleeved graphic shirt and jeans while Daehyun has a nice long-sleeved plaid shirt with a cotton jacket and jeans. “Er…where exactl-“ [DOT-DOT-DOT, US-TWO WHERE]

“Oh, you’re fine with these clothes, let me just get your jacket,” Himchan says as he walks over to the closet to fetch Jongup’s jacket. Once he takes it out of the closet, he gives it to Jongup, who looks back at him, with an expectant look for any clues on where he is going with Daehyun. Himchan smiles and shrugs, saying, “Have a wonderful time. Here's some money.” He takes out his wallet and places some wons in the inside pocket of Jongup’s jacket.

**T-minus 25 hours…and 45 minutes…**

**_A chilly night…trees moving gently in the wind…_ **

**_Cars are passing them by without a sound…_ **

Daehyun and Jongup leave the house, and as they walk, Jongup glances around for any indications to where they are going. Few minutes pass in silence before Daehyun stops walking and Jongup does the same, slowly turning to face him. Daehyun brings his hands up from his sides to tell Jongup something.

[fs<JU> HEY, I SERIOUS WANT APOLOGIZE. YOU NOT DESERVE ME SILENT AVOID, KNOW ME WRONG “PUSH-YOU-ASIDE”, NOT FAIR sh(“DON’T-KNOW” WHY) YOU.]  _ (Jongup-ah, I’m serious about being sorry. You did not deserve the silent treatment, I know it was wrong for me to brush you off and it was unfair that you didn’t know why I was acting like that.) _ Daehyun watches Jongup with looks of sincere apology and regret. Jongup can only stare back at him with a hurt expression.

[v(BUT WHY)v THAT DAY, v(WHY FACIAL-EXPRESSION TURN-LEAVE SAY NONE)v ^(sh(NOT KNOW) ME VERY EMBARRASS)^ “?” I WANT CHAT WITH YOU AFTER, _^(BUT HAPPEN LUNCH)^_ **AWKWARD** US-TWO, COMMENT FEW WORD, YOU LOOK-AWAY CHAT WITH ns<KYUNGSOO><HYUNG> *shrug* “NO-BIG-DEAL”. **EVERY. TIME.** *Jongup signs with emphasis on the last two words* ~(CLASS FINISH)~ YOU sh(NOT SEE ME). SEE YOU “SOCIALIZE” YOUR GROUP FRIEND, ME v(HOW FEEL)v BETRAYED! SAME “RIGHT-AWAY” “LEFT-ALONE” IGNORE-ME! “WEEK-BEFORE” THAT DAY, ~(YOU WANT ME PERFORM)~, nh(I SHOW). YOU IMPRESS, I FEEL “BOOST-ESTEEM” *Jongup looks at Daehyun with utter confusion, and feeling hurt.* HAPPEN YOU “TURN-LEAVE” “RIGHT-AWAY”, ~(ME)~ MIND SHOCK, v(DO-DO WRONG ME)v LIKE YOU FEEL DISAPPOINT…MAYBE HATE-ME. <HYUNG> #EVEN LIE TO ME] _(But why did you? That day, why did you give me that look before you left without saying much? Didn’t you know how embarrassed I felt after you left? I wanted to talk to you after that, but it all became so awkward between us that after exchanging a few words, you went and talked to Kyungsoo like nothing happened, every time during lunch. You didn’t even see me after classes. You were with your group of friends, and I…I just felt like I was betrayed or suddenly abandoned! That day, you wanted a show, and I gave you a show of my talents. When you left like that, I felt like I did something wrong, like I let you down. Hyung, you even lied to m-)_

Jongup can see that Daehyun really feels bad from the way he bites on his bottom lip after seeing Jongup express “no-big-deal” with a nonchalant face and a shrug, the way he almost winces when seeing ‘betrayed’ and the snap of Jongup’s fingers, and the way he shakes his head slowly when Jongup emphasizes on the sign for ‘disappoint’. Daehyun immediately lower Jongup’s hands and hugs him, cutting Jongup off from signing ‘me’.

Jongup stills at the sudden closure, and realizes that it is the first chest-to-chest hug between the two of them since they first met. He catches a masculine cologne aroma from Daehyun and he suddenly goes weak. With one of his hand lodged awkwardly in between their bodies, Jongup takes it out to hug him back with tentative arms. He then feels himself being swayed slightly on the spot with Daehyun leading. After a few seconds, Jongup feels Daehyun letting go and he does the same.

Daehyun gives Jongup a small smile. [I SORRY I LIE TOO. NOT RIGHT…~(UNDERSTAND)~ HAPPEN YOU #OFF SHIRT, I…FEEL STRANGE. YOU HAVE WHOLE OTHER SIDE HAPPEN DANCE+. I WOW AMAZED, “JAW-DROP”. ~(WHEN NOT DANCE)~ DIFFERENT. I CARE ABOUT YOU SAME HYUNG, AND I WANT THERE FOR YOU.]  _ (I’m sorry that I lied too. It wasn’t right. When you took off your shirt that day, I felt so…strange. Jongup-ah, you know you have this whole other side of you when you’re dancing. It leaves me amazed and in awe. When you don’t dance, everything about you suddenly change and it’s different. I care about you as a hyung, and I want to be there for you.)  _ Daehyun smiles at Jongup admiringly, before his face changes to a perplexed look.

[BUT “LOOK-BACK” SEE YOU DANCE, FEEL DIFFERENT, ESPECIALLY WHEN *Daehyun goes a gesture of hooking up his shirt with his thumb* SEE YOUR BODY, SAME… SAME I WANT HAVE YOU. I HAVE-TO LEAVE THAT DAY, CANNOT “TAKE-IT-IN”.]  _ (But when I saw you dance, I felt different inside, especially when I saw you hooking up your shirt with your thumb…it was as if I  _ wanted  _ to  _ have _ you. I had to leave that day, I couldn’t take that feeling inside.) _

Jongup stares at Daehyun in disbelief. Looking into Daehyun’s eyes, he can see the tenderness and pride…and yet another emotion in his eyes that Jongup cannot make out. He averts his eyes to the ground, not further saying anything. He then feels Daehyun’s hand holding his hand and gently tugging him to continue walking. He has momentarily forgotten they are walking to a destination that Daehyun has in mind, and he is curious to find out where it is that they are heading.

**T-minus 25 hours…and 30 minutes…**

As the duo continues to walk hand in hand, a few minutes later, Jongup hears the sound of cheers, screams, motors running, and then…winter carnival music. He spots a Ferris wheel, though it is not one among the officially biggest-sized Ferris Wheels, since it is in a relatively medium-sized local amusement park. He stops in his pace, surprising Daehyun.

[<HYUNG> ^(WE ENTER)^] Jongup looks at Daehyun warily. ( _ Hyung, are we going there?) _

Daehyun nods, tilting his head slightly to the side in confusion. He lets go of Jongup’s hand. “Wong?” [v( _ WRONG)v _ ]  _ (What’s wrong?) _

Jongup shakes his head, smiling a bit; his eyes wandering down aimlessly to Daehyun’s lips. [*Jongup shrugs*…SINCE-THEN LONG TIME.]  _ (Oh it’s nothing, it’s just…it’s been a long time.) _

Feeling concerned, Daehyun places his left hand on Jongup’s shoulder. “Yew okeh? We noh’hafto go in, if you don’wan.” [^(YOU #OK)^ “?” WE sh(NOT NEED ENTER #IF YOU NOT-WANT)]  _ (Are you ok? We don’t have to enter if you don’t want to.) _

“No no no, it’s fine. I’m okay, really! Just…memories coming back, is all,” [*Jongup waves his hand a little, shaking his head* HEY FINE. I #OK, REALLY. JUST…”LOOK-BACK”] Jongup shrugs with a smile.

“Okeh,” Daehyun signs, with a wary look. [#OK]  _ (Ok.) _ There is a slight crease in his brow. “Zur?” [^(SURE)^ “?”]  _ (You sure?) _

Jongup nods. [^(ENTER)^]  _ (Shall we enter then?) _

Daehyun smiles, and the two of them make their way to the entrance of the amusement park.

\- - -

Daehyun and Jongup are having the time of their lives as they play at the arcade games and compete in different game booths. Daehyun treats the two of them to some snacks, although he mostly treats himself to a little more food than usual. He shares with Jongup, unless Jongup declines the offers – [sh(ME NOT-WANT BECOME) SICK TOMORROW AUDITION]  _ (I don’t want to get sick for my audition tomorrow, hyung.)  _ Jongup signs lightheartedly, earning a chuckle and a nod from Daehyun.

Daehyun and Jongup finally sit down on one of the many benches in the amusement park, giving their stomachs and legs a break from all the walking and eating. For a while, they joke and talk about some of the moments they just had in the amusement park so far, with delighted looks and bright laughter. They are engrossed in their conversation, oblivious to the curious stares and glances of the people passing by.

The duo often gets interrupted with kids coming up to them and standing there, looking fascinated at their hand gesticulations. Often glancing at the kids, Jongup and Daehyun smile and wave at them. They feel a little awkward in their conversations with the kids staring, but they understand that the kids are naturally being curious. It is not too long before the parents get their kids back and apologize to Daehyun and Jongup for their kids’ behaviors. Jongup and Daehyun shake their heads, smiling, and they wish the families to have a wonderful time. Finally, the duo finish their conversation and settles to enjoy the night, letting the giddy atmosphere of the fair take over their minds, watching the people have the time of their lives.

At some point of seeing the kids with families walking around and passing by, it draws Jongup’s attention to watch the families. Kids are squealing everywhere, with laughter and simple merriment, while playing with the other kids or with their parents and siblings.

“Hyung, look up here! I’m flying!”

Jongup turns to the sound, and he catches one kid sitting upon his father’s shoulders, his arms stretched out like wings, with a biggest smile on his face and giggling, feeling like he is on top of the world. The older brother is walking alongside, with a hint of a smile on his face, watching his little brother; Jongup detects the protectiveness and tenderness in the brother’s eyes. His heart flutters at the sight, for these eyes speak the same expressions he sees in his own brother’s eyes for many years. The mother is on the other side of the father, with one hand on her youngest son’s back, to keep him from falling, as she smiles up at her son.

_ The memories of Jongup’s parents…were so long ago… _

Jongup has almost forgotten what it was like to have fun with his family…Memories before the accident seems so vague to him, but a few stands out so crystal clear.

_ The laughter of his parents, his brother and his own fills his ears as he remembers vividly that one time when they were at the park…riding on his father’s shoulders, as Himchan tries to chase after them in a game… _

“Umma, Appa, I’m sorry…”

“Appa, I won’t do it again…”

Jongup looks over to his right where he sees some parents scolding their kids as the kids look down with shame. Not a moment too soon do their parents hug them, assuring that everything will be okay and they love them anyway; that it hurt the parents more for scolding at them.

_ The memory when his umma would pet his and Himchan’s heads soothingly, holding them close to her, as their appa was scolding them for being clumsy and ruining appa’s painting piece… _

_ And then afterwards, their appa forgave them and hugged them, assuring that appa had to repaint his work…he needed to anyways… _

“Appa, Umma, let’s come back here next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, and many more years after that!”

“Nooonnaa, I wanna come back here again!! Appa, can we come back next year? Umma, can we? Can we?”

“UNNIE! I wanna ride that horsey!”

Jongup gazes at other parents walking hand in hand, watching their children with admiring and lovingly looks, as the siblings play and mingle with each other. In one family walking past, an older sister holds onto her younger siblings’ hands as the parents watch from behind with tender eyes. In another family, the parents are at either side of the three brothers. The two older brothers play with their younger brother who is in the middle, swinging by the hands, as the younger brother giggles and looks up at them. The five of them are all smiling, and enjoying the wonderful night as they pass by Jongup and Daehyun.

“Hahaha! Hyungs, do it again! Do it again!”

After the little brother swings and lands on his feet on the ground again, he makes eye contact with Jongup and smiles at him. He lets go of one of his brother’s hand to wave at him. Jongup sees that the older brothers are watching him with reserved looks, and so he smiles back with a nod, mirroring back a small wave. The two older brothers bow their heads politely at him as the little boy giggles, before turning their attentions to their brother between them. As the family continues to walk past, the little boy frequently looks back at Jongup, the smile still on his face, until he turns away when the family turns left at a booth.

“Appa, Umma, will this place be here 4 years from now? How about 8 years? I’d like to come back here again and again, with all of us as a family. ”

Jongup’s eyes flicker over to a bench across from them to see a family eating and sharing a cotton candy and a bag of popcorn, laughing and having the time of their lives. He does not know how he manages to hear that line, even if it is coming from one of the loudest kids among the noisiest atmosphere. There is a sudden pang of sadness that pierces his chest when he hears the number of years.

_ Eight years…is a pretty long time… _ he thinks to himself.

_ Warm wetness slips unnoticed from the owner’s eyes… _

_ A pair of eyes is watching Jongup with sympathy… _

Jongup fails to notice how Daehyun has been silently observing him for some time, watching him as he sneak glances at families. His eyes unfocused at the family across from him, Jongup does not realize that tears had been falling on his cheeks until Daehyun brushes them away with his thumb, and he is startled out of his thoughts. Jongup gasps softly at being caught in his vulnerable state, glancing at Daehyun before he looks away. He hastily wipes away the streaked tears on his cheeks, before he covers his nose and mouth with his hand as he hangs his head in shame. His lips are quivering to restrain the sobs that are climbing up in his throat. He gulps as he slowly clenches his trembling fist, and closes his eyes. He feels more warm tears pooling in his eyes, and he wills the tears to stop, but to no avail. His voice croaks out in light whimpers as he starts sniveling.

Each memory feels like a teardrop, falling from the subconscious to land on the surface of consciousness…

_ The smile on his mother’s face…The pride on his father’s face… _

Ripples form and these ripples are the feelings from remembering the memory itself…

_ The soft, caressing touch of his mother’s hand on his cheek… _

_ The strong, warm arms that wrapped around Jongup in a gentle embrace… _

The bigger the rings are, the more intense these feelings become…

For Jongup, it is the feeling of sadness and wanting, for his parents to come back, for his life to start over and to enjoy his childhood years with not just his hyung but with his parents...without the hardships he had to face in schools…

_ “Our Jonguppie-yah, Umma and Appa love you very much.” _

Jongup keeps sniffling, as the warm wetness falls from his eyes, and he can feel his lips trembling. He wills himself to be strong, and put the memories in the past…

But Jongup cannot, because the feelings have become too overwhelming for him. His lips are no longer able to hold back as the whimpers and the sobs are released from his throat, and his chest is heaving with sadness. Jongup brings his hands up to his eyes, mentally cursing himself for being weak, cursing the memory for making him be like this, cursing the continuous tears that spill like a flood over a broken dam. Gulping back his sobs, he lowers his hands down to his lap after a few seconds, thinking that his tears have stopped flowing.

Jongup suddenly feels Daehyun’s hand gently resting on top of his fist, and he slowly opens his eyes, and the warm tears continue to fall, now on Daehyun’s hand. Blurry from the tears, he makes out Daehyun’s hand moving.

[WANT #TALK “?”]  _ (Want to talk?) _

Still staring at Daehyun’s hand, Jongup shakes his head slowly, sniffling. He closes his eyes as he hunches forward in his seat, raising his hands to press against his teary eyes. He does not need Daehyun to see this, and he does not want this breakdown to ruin their night. He tries to calm down from the intense emotional breakdown. His voice continues to gives out in small gasping sobs.

Jongup did not expect this to happen; he did not expect that he would see Daehyun after a couple weeks of awkwardness and cold shoulders, nor would they be going to an amusement park, filled with a lot of kids and their parents, especially parents that he secretly had often wished to have for the past 8 years.

Daehyun watches Jongup with a heavy feeling in his chest, as he places his hand to rub on Jongup’s back, feeling him shaking from the weeping. He can feel the vibrations of Jongup’s sobbing noises from the physical contact. Some people notice this, and they look at the couple with concern, sometimes going over to them. However, they are stopped in their tracks when Daehyun shakes his head and smiles at them, assuring that everything is okay, and they go back to their usual ways. Daehyun moves closer to his friend, his hand reaching upwards to thread his fingers through Jongup’s hair.

Once Daehyun feels Jongup calming down, he continues to gaze at him in concern as Jongup takes his hands away from his eyes to wipe the tears. Jongup nervously glances sideways at Daehyun, and he gives a chuckle, not quite sounding like a chuckle but a strangled sobbing pants of breath, before he looks down, sniveling.

With his hand still on Jongup’s head, Daehyun leans forward to get Jongup’s attention. He brings his other hand to Jongup’s chin and turns Jongup’s head to face him. He can see Jongup’s bloodshot eyes, his bottom lip trembling from the crying.

[^(MISS PARENTS)^ “?”]  _ (Do you miss your parents?) _ Daehyun looks at Jongup with sympathy.

His lip trembling badly, Jongup gulps and nods. His voice is laced with thick sadness and yearning. For a moment, he is thankful that he does not have to speak.

[OFTEN, I THINK ABOUT MY PARENTS, UP-THERE *Jongup gulps again as he looks upwards and points to the sky, holding his gaze for a few seconds and letting his hand fall to his lap, before he lowers his gaze* …LONG-AGO AGE 10 HAPPEN ACCIDENT…*He sniffles, shaking his head* PARENTS DEAD.] Daehyun feels a piercing grief in his chest when he sees Jongup sign those words. [VAGUE REMEMBER, BUT “IMPRINT-IN-MIND” BECAUSE… *Jongup lets out an exhale before inhaling to continue, his breaths have been shaky*  I FEEL LIKE LOSE SOMETHING, CANNOT #BACK-ME *He draws in another shaky breath* THAT I WILL NEVER GET #BACK] Jongup blinks rapidly, as the tears gather once again in his eyes. He sighs exasperatedly at his vulnerability, missing the faint surprise on Daehyun’s face mixed with sadness.  _ (Often, I…would think about them, wondering about them being in heaven. I was ten when it happened. I remember it sort of vaguely but I remember that day because… it made me feel like I lost something that can never be returned. That it will never…be returned to me.) _

[WORSE NIGHT EVER MY WHOLE LIFE. <HYUNG>, I CAUSE HIM ANGRY ME, YELL…ALMOST ME HURT. PUSH-DOWN ME ON FLOOR, AND HURT. BUT sh(NOTHING HURT MORE THAN “EMPTY-CHEST”) sh(NOT INTEND) CAUSE HIM MAD WHEN ASK ABOUT OUR PARENTS. *Jongup gulps* I ALSO YELL] _(It was the worst night of my life...because I… had made hyung so mad he almost hurt me. He shoved me to the floor...and it hurt. But nothing hurt me more than the feeling of this gap in my chest. I didn’t mean to make him so mad when I asked about our parents… I was even screaming at him.)_ Jongup shakes his head guiltily.

[NEXT FEW DAYS SINCE…*Jongup pauses for a moment, sniffling*  **HARD BELIEVE. HARD ACCEPT.** SAME #IF YOU SEARCH+++ LOST FAVORITE #ITEM, STILL sh(REFUSE BELIEVE LOST) HOPE SURPRISE FINALLY ONE DAY “TURN-UP” AND EVERYTHING  **WILL FINE** ]  _ (The next few days since the accident, it...it was so hard to _ believe _ , so hard to accept. It’s like when you’re searching for your favorite item that you lost, and you st...still refuse to believe that you lost it…hoping that it would miraculously turn up and everything. will. be.  _ okay. _ ) _

[ONLY…sh(NEVER “SHOW-UP”) MUST ACCEPT TRUE-BIZ LOST… FOREVER] “I’m sorry, Daehyun-hyung. I’m so sorry.” Muttering the last words without signing, Jongup lowers his head and tries to shake off the emotions.  _ (Only...that it never  _ did. _ And you had to accept the fact that you lost it fo...forever.) _

Jongup feels Daehyun’s hand on his head lowering down to the back of his neck, brushing his thumb on it. He sniffles and continues on.

[NEXT MORNING I GO PARENTS BEDROOM HI GOOD MORNING, COME-IN STOP. SEE EMPTY BED.  **SAME+++** EVERY-DAY. *Jongup’s throat hitches before continuing* “EVERY-MORNING” GO BEDROOM, WISH EVERYTHING THAT NIGHT DREAM PAST, HOPE PARENTS #BACK.  <HYUNG> ALWAYS COME GET ME, TAKE-ME-OUT, BECAUSE HEAR ME CRY “EVERY-MORNING”.] Jongup sniffles again.  _ (I went to my parents’ bedroom the next morning to greet them, only to find an empty bed. It was like that every. single. day. Going to their bedroom every single morning of that week, wishing that it was all a dream, hoping they would come home. Himchan-hyung would come and get me in my parents’ bedroom, because I had been crying…)  _

[ME  **IDIOT** ,sh(NOT ACCEPT) MY….OUR PARENTS DIE THAT NIGHT, NOT RETURN H….HOME. I NAÏVE OBSESS, HOPE ONE DAY, COME BACK, ALIVE…] A strangling sob in Jongup’s throat cuts him off from signing the last word in mid-action.  _ (I was such an  _ idiot _ , for not accepting that my...our parents  _ died  _ that night, that they didn’t come h....home. I was such a naive child to hold on to that hope that they would one day come back to us, a...ali…)  _ Jongup cannot bring his trembling hands to sign any further because of the pain that the memories brought back to him. Daehyun, for the second time that night, pulls him into a tight hug. Jongup continues to weep on Daehyun’s shoulder as he holds onto him, and he feels Daehyun’s hand softly petting his hair.

“I’m so so s-s-sorry,  _ hyung _ .” Jongup manages to say amidst his cries.

In an embrace, the two of them sit there on the bench in silence, as Jongup calms down once more. He pulls away and looks down at his hands, not bringing himself to look at Daehyun.

[I SORRY MESS-UP OUR NIGHT]  _ (I’m sorry that this is ruining our night.) _

Blinking his tears away, Daehyun shakes his head gently with his hand caressing Jongup’s back and head, assuring him that it is okay. The moment Daehyun starts to sign, Jongup looks up at him.

[sh(NOT NEED APOLOGIZE) I SORRY THAT HAPPEN. I NOT KNOW ABOUT YOUR PARENTS…BUT I SEE YOU WATCH+++ EVERYWHERE…I REMEMBER YOUR HOUSE PICTURE++ YOU AND YOUR <HYUNG> GROW-UP, AND ONE BIG FANCY FAMILY PICTURE. ALSO ROOM DOOR fs(ALTAR) ~(WONDER WHY sh(NOT SEE) MORE PICTURE #OF PARENTS)~ sh(NONE) TELL ME NONE, nh(BUT NOW) MIND CONNECT++ WHAT I SEE++, “OH-I-SEE”, UNDERSTAND] Daehyun nods with affirmation.  _ (I didn't know about your parents…but I saw you watching the parents everywhere around here…I remembered that at your house, there were many pictures of you and Himchan-hyung over the years, and this one big fancy, family picture; and a room with a door that said ‘Altar’. I wondered why there were no more pictures of your parents around…No one told me, not even Yongguk-hyung, but it all clicked in my mind and I understood why.)  _

Daehyun sighs and continues on. [fs<JU> I REALLY SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS. HARD DEAL DEATH, ESPECIALLY PERTAIN PARENTS. WORSE MORE COMPARE PARENTS DIVORCE.]  _ (Jongup-ah…I’m really sorry for your loss…It’s hard to get over death, especially when it comes to parents. It’s worse than having divorced parents.) _

Jongup looks at Daehyun questioningly, wondering if he had just said something about his parents as well in that statement.

Daehyun seems to have read Jongup’s mind and nods. [YES, MY PARENTS DIVORCE LONG-AGO. LIVE WITH MOM, LONG TIME. ~(DAD)~ SEE HIM RARELY. ^( _ WHY SPLIT)^ _ …BECAUSE…ME]  _ (Yeah, my parents had a divorce long time ago. Been living with Umma since. My appa? I see him rarely. Why did they split? Well, it was because…of me.)  _ Daehyun looks at Jongup sadly, who is slightly gaping at him.

[BUT THAT NOT FAIR. sh(NOT FAIR YOUR PARENTS ~(FIGHT)~) BECAUSE YOU]  _ (But that’s not fair. It’s not fair they had to fight because of you.) _

Daehyun smiles bitterly. [LIFE ~(FAIR)~ sh(NOT ALWAYS) MY PARENTS **ARGUE+** ABOUT WHAT BEST FOR ME. DAD FEEL HUMILIATED ABOUT ME DEAF, MOM FEEL ACCEPT SUPPORT. SHE sh(NOT-CARE) ME DEAF NOT, TREAT-ME SAME MY SIBLINGS, LEARN SIGN LANGUAGE COMMUNICATE. THEM-TWO ARGUE++ ME “NOT-A-CLUE”, BUT ONE NIGHT **ARGUE** FAMILY DINNER. **BICKER++** **YELL++** *Daehyun shakes his head and shrugs lightly* LATER, PARENTS DIVORCE, DAD LEAVE. STILL MISS HIM] Daehyun’s face relaxes after showing intense angered and annoyed expressions, imitating the expressions of his parents in his memory of that night. He then shows expressions of regret and a slight sadness, his shoulders sagging. _(Life is not always fair. My parents were arguing about wanting what is best for me. Appa felt humiliated about my deafness back then when I was young, but Umma was so supportive and accepting of me. She did not care if I was deaf or not; she, along with my siblings, learned sign language and treated me the same. But they had been fighting often, and I of course, never knew about it until one family dinner night. They were arguing, bickering and yelling. Then, few days later, my parents got a divorce and Appa left…I still miss him though.)_

Jongup looks at Daehyun, who is looking back at him with a look of resignation. [I SORRY THAT HAPPEN.]  _ (I’m sorry that happened to you.) _

Daehyun shakes his head slowly yet emphatically. [ **NO** . NOT SORRY TO ME #EVER, UNDERSTAND? I PARENTS HAVE STILL, ME. v(WHAT ABOUT YOU)v ~(AGE 10 HAPPEN)~ YOUR PARENTS GONE. ~(AGE 12 HAPPEN)~ MY PARENTS DIVORCE.  **YOU AGE 10…** PLUS 8 YEAR “GROW-UP” PARENTS WITHOUT, sh(I CANNOT IMAGINE) MY PARENTS STILL HAVE. ~(UNDERSTAND)~ YOU JUST TEACH-ME APPRECIATE PARENTS, WE NOT HAVE THEM AROUND LONG TIME.  **I** SORRY SHOULD, NOT TRY CONTACT DAD, TRY FIRST START.] Daehyun can feel tears welling up in his eyes. [DAD HIMSELF “CONTACT-US”. LIFE CAN TOUGH WITH ONE PARENT, BUT MORE TOUGH WITHOUT BOTH. 8 YEAR LONG LIVE. ^(YOUR BROTHER)^ WOW, HE RAISE YOU, “LOOK-AFTER” YOU. SAME PARENT BUT NOT REALLY YOUR PARENT. REALLY, US-TWO SHOULD NOT SORRY FOR EACH-OTHER,  _ ^(WHY)^  _ NOW OUR LIVES CHANGE BETTER]  _ (No, Jongup. Do not be sorry, ever. I still have my parents. What about you? You were ten years old at that time when you lost your parents. I was twelve when my parents’ marriage was ripped apart. For a 10 year old like you, to lose and live eight years without parents, I cannot imagine how life must be. I still have my parents. Look at you, you just taught me to appreciate having parents around…because we won’t always have them around for long. I should be the one sorry, because I did not bother to make the initiative to contact Appa; instead Appa was the one keeping in touch with us. Life can be tough with one parent, but even tougher without two. Eight years is too long of a lifetime to live without them, and you had your brother. He raised you, and is so protective of you. He’s like a parent but not really your parent, he’s doing what he can to help you…and him. But Jongup-ah, neither of us should be sorry for each other, because our lives up ‘til now have changed for the better.) _

Jongup nods solemnly before a thought comes to mind. [KNOW-THAT, I RECENT REALIZE…WHAT HAPPEN OUR PARENTS, HAPPEN IN SAME YEAR. TWO-OF-US AGE 2 YEAR APART. 8 YEAR-BEFORE, I 10, YOU 12…SOMETHING BAD “HAPPEN-STRIKE” OUR PARENTS]  _ (You know, I just realized…what had happened to our parents…happened in the same year. You and I, we’re two years apart. Eight years ago, I was ten and you were twelve when things happened with our parents.) _

Daehyun blinks in surprise at the realization. [^(THINK US-TWO #FATE MEET)^ “?”]  _ (Do you think we were fated to meet?) _ He smiles half-heartedly. Jongup catches it and he too smiles, before shrugging. Daehyun holds his hand, putting an end to their sad conversation before looking around.

Jongup is wiping his face free of tears with his free hand, when Daehyun suddenly spots a large single-story building that he loves to go inside every time he visits a local amusement park. Seeking to change the mood between them, Daehyun squeezes Jongup’s hand gently, catching his attention, and signs, [^(WANT GO-THERE)^]  _ (Want to go in there?) _

Jongup looks to where Daehyun is pointing, and he sees the name, “A-MAZE-N’ CORRIDORS OF ILLUSIONS”. Feeling that rush of excitement once again, after having gone through such a vulnerable moment. Jongup looks back at Daehyun and grins, nodding. Daehyun stands up from his seat and motions his head towards the maze, tugging Jongup’s hand.

**T-minus 24 hours and 20 minutes…**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's up with the countdown???


	25. A Date at the Fair Part 2 and Aftermath

**T-minus 24 hours and 10 minutes…**

Jongup is in a strange room, walking through a psychological ward, where he runs into mentally ill patients that are running and screaming. The previous maze had been a room with conveyor belts on the floor, in different directions, and Jongup and Daehyun individually had to take the correct path to get to the other side of the room. Often they find themselves stumbling and ending up back in the same spot as before. They finally worked together and arrived at the other side, before walking through the corridor into the psychological ward.

In this flashing room, Jongup can feel the seclusion of the walls around him, with the flickering incandescent lights. Jongup admits he gets startled now and then in the psychological ward maze, but he knows everything is an illusion, as the patients are merely actors. He sees Daehyun a little further ahead of him, but he is not worried; Daehyun often looks back to check on him.

The two of them eventually get to the exit of the ward, and head into a corridor that leads them to a room of mirrors. It confuses the two of them badly that they had to stick together to help each other find their way out, but regardless, they are laughing and having a good time.

**T-minus 24 hours…** **_7:15PM._ **

Jongup and Daehyun have just exited the corridor and are now walking into another maze that is full of glass walls.

_ There’s something about this maze that looks familiar,  _ Jongup thinks to himself. He sees Daehyun walking a little ahead of him before stopping. They see some people on the other side already leaving and laughing, rubbing some areas of their bodies, assuming to be the soreness.

Daehyun looks back at Jongup, his eyes crinkling in amusement. Looking right into Jongup’s eyes, the guy holds up three fingers, slowly counting down.

_ This feels too familiar,  _ Jongup thinks to himself.

_ 3… _

_ 2… _

_ 1. _

Daehyun takes off, heading left and then starts running in different directions. He keeps turning left and right and straight, as if he knows where exactly to go.

Jongup wonders why. He makes to follow him, running straight towards where he sees the figure.

**_THUNK…_ **

“OOF!” Jongup grunts in shock just as he collides with a wall, made out of glass. He steps back, bewildered, staring at the foggy impression that his face leaves on the wall. With one hand rubbing his forehead, he reaches out tentatively with his other hand to feel the wall. As he wipes his hand across it, Jongup can feel the coolness of the surface rubbing with his skin. He blinks, focusing on Daehyun now standing in the opposite end of the room, still with the same expression from earlier. But he seems to be waiting for him, beckoning him with his hand.

“There are so many walls between Daehyun-hyung and I…How did he know which way to go?” Jongup mutters as he studies the view in front of him, catching the thinness of the glass-like material found in random areas of the room. Then, with a startling gasp, Jongup remembers.

Staring at the glassy wall in front of him, Jongup recalls this from a dream he had long ago. Both he and Daehyun are in a room of glassy, transparent walls. There are too many walls lined up in different directions. Jongup looks behind him, and through the doorway, he sees walls of mirrors. The dream he had is coming back to him. Looking ahead at Daehyun, he realizes that the stranger in his dream was Daehyun himself. Experiencing a déjà vu, Jongup now knows what to do.

Jongup looks to his left, and finds a gap between two walls wide enough for a person to go through. The walls are thinly durable, yet sturdy. The gaps between the entrance walls cannot be seen from the front,  _ only from the side _ .

Jongup goes into the maze and starts running. Unfortunately, he does not remember the path he took in his dream, so he experiences some bumps on the way.

**_THUNK…._ **

Jongup collides with a wall.

**_”WHOA!”…_ **

Jongup tests one wall and finds it to be a fake, easily running through the space…until  **_THUNK…._ ** he hits another wall.

**_THUD…A grunt…A hushed ”ow…”_ **

Wincing from the pain of bumping against walls he cannot see, Jongup is halfway into the maze when he looks around to see Daehyun rooted in the same spot. Daehyun looks with concerned eyes and holds a thumb up, signaling the question if Jongup is okay.

Jongup nods despite some bruises he may have, and continues to find his way out of the maze. He finally gets himself out of the maze after a while, and leans on one of the walls near the corridor. He pants, due to his running around in the maze, and rubs some of his muscles from the impacts he suffered. Daehyun comes up to him, his head tilted in concern, and Jongup just smiles at him, too exhausted to speak.

Daehyun, no longer the stranger in Jongup’s dream, watches him with a smirk before extending his hand to help Jongup up. They then head to the corridor that will take them to the next maze.

Jongup, feeling some energy returning into his body once again, follows Daehyun to the next room. He slows to a stop when he sees not a door but a gap under the doorframe. Daehyun has walked into the gap and darkness has enveloped him. Suddenly, a knobless door materializes in the void, startling Jongup. Recovering from the shock of the sudden appearance, he starts to panic, after seeing that there is no knob on the door and feeling the solidity of the door. He takes several deep breaths, hoping that this is just all part of the plan and not some crazy attempt by the building’s manager to trap him inside. Before he knew it, the door vanishes, leaving the black void behind once again. Confused, Jongup tests the void by reaching his hand out. His hand meets with air alone. Jongup feels a little nervous, but taking a deep breath, he walks into the void. He continues to walk until he is about three feet away from the doorframe.

“Hello?”

Silence.

Jongup continues on, but his body cannot help but excitedly shudder at the thought of being in unknown, silent, unseen dimension. He also shudders from the anticipation because of the dream he remembered, walking into the darkness; but a part of him is a bit jittery, not sure what to expect.

“Wow, this is dark, I can’t even s-”, Jongup says before the lights turn on immediately, startling him, and Jongup sees plastic blue walls and one giant wall on the other side of the room. On the surface of the giant wall is a projection of a hypnotic spiral that continues to spin. Already, Jongup feels hypnotized and dizzy as he tries to walk around the plastic walls, his eyes constantly drawn to the moving optical illusion in front of him. He stumbles a few times, faceplanting to the walls, but he shakes his head to regain his focus often.

All of a sudden, a video appears on the wall, replacing the spiral. Jongup does a double take, surprised to see his hyung on camera; though his vision is a little loopy, he can make out what Daehyun is signing.

“SHONGUP-AH! P’EOW!” [fs<JU> I  **BEAT-YOU** . COME ON, HURRY! ME WAIT OUT HERE!] _ (Jongup-ah, I beat you~ Come on, hurry! I’m waiting out here!)  _ Daehyun has this smile on his face as he laughs that Jongup finds breathtaking. The way Daehyun signs his name with a mixture of mischievousness and tenderness in his eyes, Jongup feels his heart beating rapidly. Even the way Daehyun laughs sounds so carefree and so pure of amusement, that Jongup finds himself smiling and chuckling.

_ Daehyun’s the one _ , Jongup realizes as he stares into the eyes of Daehyun on camera, noticing a playful glint in Daehyun’s eyes.  _ He’s the one that was in my dream, and now I know why I had that episode of being deaf in the maze in my dream. Why didn’t I think of that earlier before this night? _

Receiving Daehyun’s personal message makes Jongup feel special; and so with a boost of confidence, Jongup gets through the maze and finally exits out of the building. He sees Daehyun waiting for him with his hands swiveling a few times up in the air, a deaf sign for applause. Daehyun then holds one of his hands out so Jongup can give him a high-five.

[^(HAVE FUN)^ “?” ^(MY MESSAGE, YOU LIKE)^]  _ (Did you have fun? And did you like my message?)  _ Daehyun smiles playfully.

Jongup nods and when he is about to respond, his eyes catch the Ferris wheel lighting up. A thrilling feeling continues to flow inside his body as he tells Daehyun to come with him to ride the Ferris wheel.

A look of panic fills Daehyun’s eyes, and for the first time, Jongup sees Daehyun looking nervous, fidgeting on his feet.

**_An involuntary shudder runs through Daehyun’s body…_ **

**_A puff of ghostly breath emerges into the space between them…_ **

[^(#OK)^]  _ (Are you okay?)  _ Jongup looks concernedly at his hyung.

Daehyun glances at the Ferris wheel and looks back at Jongup. A moment of silence passes before he nods and lifts his hand for Jongup to take.

A little confused, Jongup accepts the gesture and walks with Daehyun to the Ferris wheel. People would think that two college guys walking to the Ferris wheel holding hands would be the norm between two males, as a sign of trust.

When the guys are about to join the line for the Ferris wheel, Daehyun slows in his walk. He stops when he gazes at the height of the Ferris wheel. Jongup patiently waits, glancing between Daehyun and the Ferris wheel. He sees Daehyun’s throat move as Daehyun gulps, and feels a light squeeze in his hand from Daehyun’s hand then a little tremble from their hands.

**_A gentle tug on their hands…_ **

Jongup’s eyes peek at Daehyun. [<HYUNG> ^(SURE #OK)^ …^(AFRAID…HIGH)^ “?”]  _ (Hyung…are you sure you’re ok? Are you…afraid of heights?) _ Jongup signs tentatively.

Daehyun shakes his head a bit too brashly, before he abruptly stops for a moment. He then nods, looking away, with his shoulders slumping. He feels another tug again, and peeks at Jongup.

[CAN STILL SAME THIS *Jongup holds up their intertwined hands* US-TWO RIDE. FIRST TIME #OR…?]  _ (We can still be like this, holding hands as we ride on the wheel. Is this your first time or…?) _ Jongup smiles softly as he tilts his head curiously, and swings their hands lazily.

Daehyun shakes his head. [SECOND]  _ (This is my second time.) _

[“OH-I-SEE”, UNDERSTAND. FINE, US-TWO ONLY. COME LINE-UP.]  _ (Ohh, it’ll be okay, hyung. It’s just us. Come on, let’s get in line.)  _ Jongup tugs on their hands and moves to join the line, with Daehyun following him.

Minutes later, the guys get on one of the two-seated pods and once they bring down the cushiony rail that protects them from falling off their seats, Daehyun suddenly grips the rail tightly as the pod begins to move backwards. Daehyun in his tense state reminds Jongup of a cat stricken with fear when in contact with water. As their pod continues to stop and go upwards while the other passengers get out of or into the pods, at one point, Jongup looks around the view of the amusement park and leans over to see below.

It is a mistake since the pod begins to swing once more, dipping a little lower and swinging wildly, and Jongup hears Daehyun’s garbled shout before he looks back to hear Daehyun hyperventilating as the pod rocks back and forth in its position. Daehyun lowers his head in shame, resting against the cushiony rail, holding onto it for his life, attempting to calm down.

Jongup bites his bottom lip, feeling guilty about being too caught up in the moment and admiring the view from their pod. He gently reaches out to hold Daehyun’s hand, feeling very apologetic. Under the touch of Jongup’s hand, Daehyun slowly relaxes and he peeks sideways at Jongup and the soft smile on Jongup’s face. He then averts his eyes before taking a deep breath, feeling calm now that Jongup is holding his hand and their intertwined hands are off the rail, with their own free hands still on the rail. Daehyun slowly sits up and nervously glances around before his eyes flutter to a close.

The pod jerks again as it moves towards the very top, and Daehyun, with his eyes closed, continues to tense up as it moves. However, the closer he and Jongup get to the top, the less tense Daehyun feels under Jongup’s hand. Once they reach the top, a relaxed Daehyun opens his eyes and turns to face Jongup again, before Jongup gives a little nod to the amusement park’s direction.

**_A rush of adrenaline and excitement runs through his veins as Daehyun slowly looks around…his heart is rapidly beating against his chest…_ **

**_A very cold wind is blowing, and Daehyun cannot suppress a shudder…Jongup is also shivering too, yet their hands clasped together provide some warmth..._ **

**_Daehyun’s mouth drops in awe as he sees the Han River at a distance, the trees of parks with lamp poles hidden here and there, and the darkened buildings of downtown and rural areas…_ **

**_The sun has already set an hour ago, and the dark night sky is full of scattered stars…_ **

**_Daehyun nervously glances down and sees people scattering all over the amusement park, hustling and bustling amidst the lighted street lamp poles…They remind him of ants…_ **

The pod jerks once again to move, and the Ferris wheel rotates the passengers slowly to give the others their turns on having a view from the top. Daehyun is much more relaxed and is leaning back in his seat as Jongup watches him with a smile on his face.

[^(NICE)^ ^(FEEL BETTER)^ “?”]  _ (Was it nice? Do you feel better now?)  _ Jongup asks Daehyun. Daehyun replies with a smile and a nod. Jongup feels his heart beating fast as he gets lost in Daehyun’s handsome face and the way they are seated so close together.

**T-minus 23 hours…and 30 minutes…**

After the Ferris wheel rotates slowly a few times, Jongup and Daehyun and the other pod passengers then get out of the pod with smiles on their faces. Jongup and Daehyun are now walking around, their intertwined hands swinging lazily between them.

Jongup thinks back on what has happened tonight: seeing Daehyun and actually talking with him for the first time in a while, Daehyun surprising him with a walk to an amusement park because he wants Jongup to relax and have fun before Jongup’s dance audition, the fun times they have had in the park so far, and the personal moments shared between them that left Jongup aching for more closure with his hyung.

Daehyun notices that Jongup has been looking dazed since they got out of the Ferris wheel, not paying attention to where he is going as they walk hand-in-hand to sit at a bench. Sitting down, Daehyun looks back to what had just happened at the Ferris wheel, how Jongup did not laugh at Daehyun’s phobia and was constantly assuring him with subtle gestures and the smile that keeps tugging at Daehyun’s heart. He admires how Jongup shows his mature side whenever he interprets for Daehyun, whether at ticket booths, food stalls, or anywhere in the amusement park.

Just then, the guys see a kid who has been wandering in the crowd and looking scared and lost. Jongup beckons him to come over, asking him why he is scared, and the boy replies that he cannot find his family. Jongup puts on a calm expression when he introduces himself and Daehyun to the kid and asks the boy for his name.

“Yoogeun.”

Jongup looks at Daehyun as he interprets, and questions Yoogeun for his parents’ descriptions and where he had last seen his family. Yoogeun replies as Jongup relays the information to Daehyun; Jongup then tells him that they will help him find his family. As the duo gets up, Daehyun catches the compassion in Jongup’s eyes and the determination to search for the kid’s parents. Jongup assures Yoogeun that everything will be okay, that they will find his parents soon. He gathers him in his arms and looks at Daehyun, motioning with his head to search for the kid’s parents.

Walking with the little boy in his arms, Jongup looks around in the crowd to find the kid’s parents. Daehyun’s eyes quickly scan the area and almost catches sight of the families that matched the kid’s description, but they already have their own kids.

All of a sudden, Daehyun’s eyes quickly catch another hurriedly movement, as the parents are continuing to look around with worry and calling out a name. From a distance, it is almost hard to read their lips but Daehyun stops Jongup, focusing on the mother’s worry-stricken face and her soundless call for her son.

_ “YOOGEUN-AH. CHILD, WHERE ARE YOU? UMMA IS WORRIED. YOOGEUN-AH?!” _

Daehyun hurriedly taps Jongup’s shoulder and points to the mother as Jongup and Yoogeun look to the direction that Daehyun is pointing. Jongup slowly catches the name “Yoogeun” and he tells the boy in his arms excitedly that they have found his parents. The three of them are walking to the mother hurriedly, and Yoogeun hears his name being called, looking around for the source with a hopeful look on his face. When he spots his mother, he screams happily to his mother, capturing her attention.

“UMMA!”

The mother looks around and exclaims with relief, her husband and her daughter not too far from her as they look around to see the reunion. Jongup lowers Yoogeun down and lets him run to his mother. Tears start falling from the mother’s eyes when Yoogeun gives his mother a tight, big hug. The mother laughs with relief, holding her son close to her. She looks up at Jongup and Daehyun, and thanks them; the father and daughter are now coming up to the mother and son.

Smiling, Jongup signs to Daehyun that the mother says ‘thank you’, and Daehyun nods with a smile. [NO PROBLEM, YOU-ALL VERY WELCOME.]

“It was not a problem at all, you all are very welcome,” Jongup says to the family. “And my b-…friend and I, we’re glad we could help him find his family.” [US-TWO HAPPY HELP-HIM SEARCH HIS FAMILY]

The mother makes an “oh” face as she sees the hand motions, as the father watches with a gentle smile and the kids look at them in awe. The mother quickly brightens and goes to give Jongup a tight hug. Daehyun notices how taken aback Jongup is in the hug, and as the mother lets go and hugs him next, he sees that Jongup is looking a little teary-eyed, blinking rapidly as he looks to the ground. The mother pulls away from Daehyun and looks between the two of them.

“You’re kind, young men, the both of you. Thank you for returning my child to me. Your parents have raised you well all these years. Family is so important, children and parents stick together to live well.” Yoogeun’s mother says, beaming at the two of them. “Your parents will be very proud of you two. When you guys go home tonight to see your parents, thank them for me, ok? Make sure you tell them that you love them as well.”

Even though Daehyun actually does not comprehend everything the mother has said, he glances at Jongup, who is trying hard to keep himself composed in front of them, his lips slightly trembling as he tries to maintain a happy expression. He sees that Jongup is not looking at the mother in the eyes. Getting the gist from the words in the last couple of lines as he reads her lips, he smiles at her and nods. “ _ Ne, al’ssheo. Go’ma way-yo”  _ [THANK-YOU, WE WILL.]  _ (Thank you, we will.) _

Jongup peeks at the mother and nods with a word of thanks. Yoogeun runs up to Jongup and hugs him, looking up at him and saying “ _ gomaweoyo _ ,  _ hyungnim _ ” cutely. Jongup is taken aback once again, and he smiles down at Yoogeun, ruffling his hair.

Once Yoogeun lets go of Jongup, the family waves goodbye to the guys, and leaves after wishing them happy holidays. Daehyun turns to see Jongup smiling at the family’s retreating backs with a hint of sadness on his face. He lifts one arm to hug around Jongup’s shoulders, startling Jongup out of his daze.

Daehyun knows that he likes Jongup, always had since the first time they ran into each other, but these moments he and Jongup have had together tonight has made him love Jongup a little more by the minutes. He remembers his promise from a few months back that he would respect Jongup’s distance and decision, that he would still be his hyung. Guiltily, he also remembers that he had also promised Jongup that he would stick with Jongup as Jongup tries to figure out his feelings in their relationship, but he did not stick with him in the recent past weeks.

_ Maybe when Jongup lifted his shirt in his choreography in front of me, he was bold to do it for me?  _ Daehyun thinks to himself. _ Was that on purpose or was that all part of his choreography? _ He focuses again on Jongup, who is looking at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

Jongup nervously lifts his hands. [<HYUNG> NEED SAY SOMETHING]  _ (Hyung, I need to tell you something.) _

Daehyun furrows his brows and pulls back his arm. He goes to stand in front of Jongup, waiting for the other to say something.

[I… FINISH REALIZE SOMETHING INTERACT US-TWO. TONIGHT MANY MOMENTS WANT “IMPRINT-IN-MIND”. LONG-TIME DIFFERENT FEEL SOMETHING. ^(REMEMBER MANY WEEK BEFORE, US-TWO SIT BENCH #PARK)^ “?”]  _ (I’ve…realized there’s something between us. Tonight, there has been one too many memories that I want to remember. I…have felt something whenever I’m around you, for a long time. Remember that time weeks back, when we sat on the bench in the park?)  _ Jongup scrunches his eyebrows a bit upwards with a questioning look.

Daehyun blinks, nodding.

[THAT TIME, sh(NOT-KNOW, NOT-SURE) WHAT FEELING HAVE. BUT RECENT, nh(I KNOW THAT FEELING) *Jongup takes a deep breath* HOPE ACCEPT CAN, BUT UNDERSTAND #IF sh(NOT-WANT)]  _ (That time, I didn’t know, or I wasn’t sure, what that feeling was. But recently, I know it. And I hope you can accept it, but I will understand if you don’t want it.) _

Jongup stands back a little further and Daehyun turns his body to fully face his younger friend.

_ \- - - _

_ Everything is in motion… _

_ The night birds are flying overhead, the trees are swaying, and people are walking around in this chilly air… _

_ Some people catch what is going on, and mouth noiselessly to the others as they look on with mixed reactions of endearment and disgust… _

**_Silence…_ **

_ Jongup’s timid hands are making some gestures, and a shy smile does not go unnoticed… _

_ Jongup’s eyes, though small, speak for themselves, such determination to succeed without help… _

_ Vivid colors of the wintry season theme in the amusement park appeal to Daehyun’s eyes…but none is brighter than Jongup’s face in front of him. _

**_Silence…_ **

_ Daehyun takes everything in his sight…smiling with joy at what he sees in front of him… _

[<HYUNG> I…*Jongup’s hands are slightly trembling* “I-LOVE-YOU”]  _ (Hyung, I love you.) _ Jongup remembers the motions of Kyungsoo’s hands as he confesses.

Daehyun’s eyes slightly widen in shock, and it must be painfully obvious to notice, because Jongup looks a bit hurt right afterwards.

[^(“YOU…LOVE-ME”)^ “?”]  _ (You love me, Jongup-ah?) _ Daehyun blinks at Jongup, his heart slightly hammering, unable to process the information.

[WELL, I LIKE YOU…BUT...I NOT-THINK THAT ENOUGH MEAN WHAT I FEEL FOR YOU.]  _ (Well, I like you but…I don’t think it’s enough to mean what I feel for you…)  _ Jongup looks at Daehyun, a bit hurt and looking hopeless.

Daehyun’s eyes gazes deep into Jongup’s eyes, and he can see the pure admiration and the pure love that Jongup has for him. Daehyun remembers the times he made Jongup blush with the lack of distance and his praises, and the times when he was there for Jongup. He softly smiles at his younger friend who has just made his confession.

[fs<JU> SORRY BUT MY HEART FINISH TAKEN]  _ (Jongup-ah…I’m sorry, but my heart’s already been taken.) _

Jongup’s face drop, and Daehyun can see the shame and embarrassment in his confessor’s face. Jongup continues to look at him. [OH…^(REALLY)^...v(WHO)v]  _ (O-oh…really?...Who…has it?) _

Daehyun feels like gushing over Jongup’s innocence, but he continues to play the game like a snarky guy he is. [OH…YOU FINISH MEET THIS PERSON. HE SOMEONE SAME YOUR AGE, BROWN HAIR. VERY MATURE, AND WELL BEHAVE, BUT...BIT NAÏVE. LONG-AGO MOMENT I SEE HIM, MY-HEART *snaps fingers* FALL-FOR-HIM. HE ESTIMATE SAME YOUR HEIGHT. *Daehyun brings his hand to indicate Jongup’s height* THE WAY HE MOVE, WOW, YOU SHOULD SEE HIM. I AWE, IMPRESSED. HAPPEN I WITH THIS PERSON, MY ATTENTION-ON-HIM]  _ (Oh, you already met this person. He’s about your age, brown hair though. He’s very mature and well-mannered, though he can be a bit naïve. The moment I first saw him a long time ago, I fell for him. He’s about your height, too. You know, the way he moves, I’m always left in awe. When I’m with this person, he has my full attention.) _

Jongup furrows his brows in puzzlement as he figures out who is that person he knows.  _ But it cannot be Kyungsoo-hyung, because he already has Jongin-goon and Joonmyeon-hyung… _ Jongup thinks to himself, looking at the ground.  _ Who else could it be? Ah Jaebum-hyung! But…he looks close with Youngjae than with Daehyun-hyung… _

Daehyun cocks his head in a teasing way, and steps closer. Jongup is too deep in his thoughts to notice. Daehyun silently chuckles before he leans forward to steal a kiss on Jongup’s lips.

That seems to bring Jongup out of his thoughts, his eyes opened widely in shock. He raises his hand to touch his own lips, not sure if he felt the kiss. Daehyun gives him a smile equipped with a genuine eye smile, as he lifts a finger to tap lightly on Jongup’s nose.

[^(ME)^]  _ (Is it me?) _ Daehyun only looks at Jongup with the same expression as before.

[^(WHO OTHER FRONT-OF-ME)^]  _ (Who else in front of me?) _

Jongup blushes at his own stupidity, averting his eyes to the ground; a small burst of pride ignites in his chest. He feels Daehyun holding his arm and rubbing his thumb against Jongup’s forearm. He looks up at his hyung.

[^(US-TWO ANOTHER KISS)^ “?”]  _ (Shall we have another kiss?) _ Jongup stares at Daehyun in shock, blushing harder at Daehyun’s direct suggestion of another kiss. He starts to stammer a bit, before being shut up with a peck on his cheek.

[<HYUNG> FINISH PLEASE. KIDS AROUND WATCHING!]  _ (Hyung, please stop~ There are kids around who could be watching us!) _ Jongup has a whiny face before he glances around. Daehyun shrugs, the smirk still planted on his face.

[^(US-TWO HOME WANT)^ TIME LATE SOON]  _ (Wanna go home now? It’s almost getting late.) _ Jongup nods.

**T-minus 21 hours…and 15 minutes…**

Daehyun and Jongup are walking hand-in-hand, their bodies closely together at the sides, to keep each other warm in the chilly night. Jongup feels different in a good way, finally happy and content with the person next to him, whom he had a crush on since the first day he saw him at lunch. They look up to the night sky as they walk, admiring the stars. Jongup, remembering the time when he and Daehyun walked to a park near the Bangs’ apartment, feels Daehyun’s thumb lazily grazing against the area between Jongup’s thumb and forefinger on his hand.

When the couple gets to the gate of the Moon residence, as soon as Daehyun reaches to open the gate, Jongup gives his new lover a back hug, and then a peck on the cheek. It catches Daehyun by surprise but it does not take long for him to recover from the affectionate gesture, as he gathers Jongup in his arms and leans back against the closed gate, smiling at him. He feels Jongup giggling and Jongup’s arms slithering around his torso to use him as leverage.

Daehyun stares into Jongup’s eyes, and despite Jongup’s faint blush, Jongup stares back with bright eyes. Daehyun signs to him, [v(HOW YOU #SEXY PLUS ADORABLE SAME-TIME)v]  _ (How can you be this sexy and yet adorable at the same time?) _

Jongup tries to hold his giggles. [BABY, I BORN THIS WAY]  _ (Baby, I was born this way.) _

Daehyun retracts his head back to give Jongup an amused stare as he holds up his hand, his palm facing outwards. [#WHOA fs(MR) #EGO]  _ (Whoa there, Mr. Ego.) _ He places his hand back on Jongup’s back.

Jongup laughs and looks down to Daehyun’s thick lips. He bites on his bottom lip nervously before glancing up to Daehyun’s eyes. Daehyun is aware of what Jongup is curious to do, so he leans a little forward, hoping that Jongup gets the message. Jongup does, and he imitates Daehyun as they slowly draw closer to each other, their warm breaths exchanging in the air between them, and their eyes closing.

The first kiss at the amusement park had been merely a brushing of lips, but this time, their first kiss between them is something much more. There is a tinge of passion, a bunch of nervousness, with a side of desire. It all becomes passionate when Jongup sighs as he brings his body closer to Daehyun, and he feels Daehyun’s hand riding up his back to cradle the back of his head.

Jongup’s body arches at the touch, their clothed bodies relishing in the friction and the heat in this cold night. Daehyun and Jongup open their mouths slightly, their tongues meeting. Bringing Jongup’s head closer to him, Daehyun has his lips pushing against Jongup’s as they continue the dance of the lips, swaying together in time. It is such a new sensation for them, like a jolt of electricity that passed between them. They break apart slowly, feeling a little dizzy from the lack of oxygen. They pant as they open their eyes to stare into each other’s souls. Not a moment too soon, Jongup tackles in for another kiss, feeling this desire spill out of him, and Daehyun smiles into their second kiss.

Just then, Daehyun feels the kiss about to turn up a little sexual when Jongup pushes his leg in between Daehyun’s legs. Daehyun lets out a small groan when Jongup starts to grind his body against Daehyun’s.

“Oh god,  _ hyung _ ,” Jongup whimpers.

With the pressure from the hips increasing by each grinding motion, Jongup starts gasping a little more erratically into the kiss. Their mouths fighting for dominance, Daehyun’s hands subconsciously lower to grip at Jongup’s hips while he tilts his head one way and Jongup tilts his head the other way. Jongup brings up his arms to rest on Daehyun’s shoulders before trapping Daehyun’s head in his arms. Daehyun can feel the moans emitting from Jongup’s voice and a slightly hardening member pushing against his groin.

“Plea-”

“YAH! GET OUT OF THERE!”

Jongup immediately breaks off the kiss upon hearing the voice, not yet moving out of Daehyun’s arms, feeling a bit dazed but realizing a little too late what he has done. He stares at Daehyun and looks down at his pants, his mind registering how hard he is. Blushing, he presses his head against the left side of Daehyun’s neck, unable to look up at Daehyun or at the source of the voice. He still clings onto Daehyun as if getting close to him will camouflage himself better.

Caught off guard by the broken kiss, Daehyun has no time to react when he is suddenly met with a bushel of Jongup’s brown hair and Jongup’s face on his neck. He suddenly jumps out of his skin when he feels someone tapping a bit too harshly on his shoulder, looking to his right.

Daehyun meets a sight of an angry Himchan for a second before Himchan’s face changes to a shocked expression at the recognition of Daehyun’s face.

“Oh, Daehyun-ah, I’m so sorry,” Himchan speaks with a clear enunciation so that Daehyun can lipread and understand, adding in some body language. “I thought you two were some random couple necking outside my house.”

Daehyun nods slowly, understanding what Himchan is saying, before he feels Jongup pressing himself closer to hide himself from his brother. Daehyun swears he is not sweating in the cold, before he realizes the warm wetness on his neck is not from himself, but from Jongup’s eyes. Before he can look back at his lover, Yongguk suddenly appears in Daehyun’s range of vision. Daehyun smiles weakly at him as both Yongguk and Himchan look at the person in Daehyun’s arms.

“Jonguppie-yah? Is that you? Why are you…yah, did you two…just necked each other in front of our house?” Himchan asks curiously as Yongguk interprets to Daehyun.

Daehyun looks wide-eyed at Yongguk, glancing at Jongup’s head, and looking back at Yongguk and Himchan. He meekly nods, just as he feels a sound from Jongup’s body.

“Y-yes, hyung. So what if we did, does th-that make me a b-bad person?” Jongup mumbles with a slight stutter.

“Wha…” Himchan looks at Yongguk, both of them sharing the same confused look upon hearing Jongup. He looks back at his brother, asking him in a soothing voice. “Jonguppie, why would you say that?”

Daehyun raises an eyebrow at Yongguk, who repeats Jongup’s answer in sign, and once Daehyun understands, he looks down at Jongup. He gently shakes Jongup to have him look up. Himchan and Yongguk are surprised to see Jongup’s eyes wet with tears. Gulping once, Jongup unwraps his arms from the back of Daehyun’s neck and steps back a bit further.

“I know we have our academics to focus on, and I will have to get the degree that my eyes are set on with the dance major, but I just can’t see my life without him in it. And I know that society may not like it, but I love Daehyun-hyung. I love that we understand each other well, that I can communicate with him, and that there aren’t any judgement between us. I don’t just like Daehyun-hyung, I really am in love with him. Hyung, I love him so much it hurts. It’s like he’s someone I cannot help but  _ want _ all the time, a-and, there’s like this  _ pouring _ out of my body I don’t know how to explain what it is.” Jongup sighs. “When I told you about that dream in a maze, it came true tonight. Daehyun-hyung and I were in some maze that was exactly like what happened in my dream. I thought to myself he’s the one. He’s the one for me. But I wondered if such things were just because we want them to happen or if we shouldn’t.” [KNOW SCHOOL STUDY, MUST GRADUATE, BUT LIFE WITHOUT HIM sh(CANNOT) ~(SOCIETY “VIEW-DIFFERENT”)~ BUT I LOVE ns<DAEHYUN><HYUNG> LOVE UNDERSTAND EACH-OTHER, COMMUNICATE EASY, sh(NO DISCRIMINATION). sh(NOT LIKE) nh(TRULY FALL-IN-LOVE) HYUNG, I LOVE HIM MUCH. CANNOT HELP WANT A-L-L TIME, AND EXPRESS HOW FEEL, EXPLAIN NOT-KNOW. LONG-AGO I TELL YOU ABOUT MY DREAM, THAT BECOME TRUE TONIGHT. ns<DAEHYUN><HYUNG> US-TWO IN #MAZE SAME EXACT DREAM. THINK REALIZE, HE THAT ONE. ONE FOR ME. BUT…WONDER NOT SURE BECAUSE WE WANT HAPPEN OR NOT.]

Jongup looks between Himchan and Daehyun, and then back at Himchan. He bites his lip in worry, “Sometimes I wondered, how would our parents feel ab-”

“Stop.”

Jongup flinches at the abrupt, serious tone in his brother’s voice. He looks at Himchan, who has his hand up, and he can see the softness in his brother’s eyes.

“Let me just say this: do not think for others when you want something for yourself. You have your own mind, body, heart, and soul. There’s no one like you, Jongup-ah…You have the right to do what you want, and it’s okay that you can have a relationship when you’re in school, as long as your relationship is not detrimental to your academics. You’re not a bad person, Jonguppie. Everyone’s human, and we are all capable to be how we want to be, do what we want to do.

“And who’s to say what society thinks? Society thinks this way, society thinks that way. There’s so many things a society can think and agree on, it’s totally messed up. I didn't think I would fall for Yongguk here,” – Himchan sneaks a glance at Yongguk, who was signing for Daehyun when he heard his name being mentioned and he smirks at Himchan – “and I had been with Hyosung-noona at the time. It’s hard to deny what your heart wants, what it feels. Your mind and your heart sometimes clash, but other times, they get along; and when they do get along, you know that it must have been right for you.

“As for our parents,” Himchan sighs. “I’m sure they’ll be happy with us as long as we are happy with ourselves. After all, you and I, kiddo, we’re still together as a family. We still have each other, we’ve always had these past eight years. If we feel that we deserve this kind of happiness for ourselves, then there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Himchan’s gaze softens as Yongguk comes up to hug Himchan from behind. Daehyun stares at Jongup with contentment, a smile growing on his face. Jongup looks up at him, his eyebrows furrowed in expectation. Daehyun leans forward so that their foreheads meet, before pulling back and lifting one of his hands. [WILL FINE, WORRY NOT. KNOW “I-LOVE-YOU”]  _ (It’ll be fine; we’ll be fine. You know that I love you.) _

Jongup stares at Daehyun’s hand, a new sign he has never seen before. “What’s that?” he asks, as he brings his own hand up to imitate Daehyun’s sign for “I-love-you”.

Himchan and Yongguk are also watching, and when Himchan sees Daehyun’s ‘I-love-you’ sign, he asks Yongguk what it means.

Chuckling, Yongguk simply replies, “I love you. You see here,” – he speaks up loud enough for Jongup to hear as he brings up his hand to imitate Daehyun’s gesture, holding out his thumb, forefinger and pinky out as he keeps the middle and ring fingers bent inwards to his palm – “You have the three first English letters from the words spelled out in your hand: an ‘I’, ‘L’, and ‘Y’. I. Love. You.” Yongguk traces the letters in his hands, as Himchan makes an “oh” face.

“Wow, that’s pretty cool,” Jongup comments softly. He then looks to his hand as he figures out how to do it. When he succeeds, he looks at Daehyun and smiles, holding out his “ILU” hand. Daehyun smiles back and pecks Jongup’s nose.

“Shall we go inside and have some hot cocoa? It’s getting cold, Jonguppie-yah, Daehyun-ah. Yonggukkie, come help me in the kitchen.”

 

**T-minus 21 hours…**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *SWEATS NERVOUSLY* WHAT IS THIS COUNTDOWN COUNTING TOWARDS??? AND WHAT'S SO IMPORTANT ABOUT 7:15???
> 
> Find out in the next couple of chapters. ;D


	26. Thud.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the clock continues to tick, and everyone go about their lives, something happens that will change their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Towards the end of the chapter, there will be a trigger warning. In fact, this whole chapter is actually kind of a trigger warning, since it's so intense of a countdown.
> 
> Ready your tissues, if you didnt have enough from the previous chapters.
> 
> You will find out why the countdown existed.

**T-minus 3 hours and 15 minutes…** **_4:00PM._ **

“Whoo, you got this, Jongup-ah,” Luhan says encouragingly, as he slaps Jongup on the shoulder. They are each wearing their dance clothes for their auditions, as well as a paper with numbers on it.

“Jonguppie, you can do it! Do well, Jongup-ah!” Cheers from Jongin, Yixing, and Sehun come from nearby as the trio are gathered along with the people waiting for their numbers to be called. Jongup gives a thumb up and a bright smile.

Jongup is aware that Himchan, Yongguk, Junhong and Daehyun are among the crowd and he hopes to give his all for the audition. Last night had been something memorable for him and he wants to keep that memory in his head to keep his nerves calm. He knows his routine well enough since he has done this one too many times. He takes a deep breath as he waits for one of the panel judges to announce his number.

Yongguk and Himchan are with Daehyun, Kyungsoo, Zitao, JR, and Junhong, seated in the audience to watch the auditions. Though not full, there are scatters of people seated in the audience as well, and the panel judges are at a panel row in the middle of the crowd. The lights are off except for a few focusing on the stage, giving the dancers auditioning a calm environment to focus, so that their nerves do not flare up upon the sight of seeing so many people watching.

“020695, please come on up to the stage.”

Jongup feels a light squeeze on his shoulder from Luhan’s hand.

\- -

Meanwhile, Soojung is hosting a sleepover party at her house once again with her friends Sunyoung, Jinri and Amber. Her house is quite a modern house, very eccentric; since it is her uncle’s doing as an architect.

“Kibum-oppa admires our uncle, so he likes to keep some photos of architecture in his room, even though he’s a fashion designer,” Soojung comments.

“Wah, Soojung-ah, I’ve said it before, but your house is so huge! And I can see the sunset from here!” Jinri stands in front of the glass wall on the second story. “Ahh, it’s so scary being up here, it’s like you’re about to fall off from the edge, but there’s this glass already here in front of me!” She laughs.

**T-minus 2 hours and 30 minutes…**

“So where to, Baekkie-ah? Italian? Chinese? French?” Chanyeol lists off as he walks with Baekhyun, arms linked, wearing thick coats, long sleeved shirts and jeans.

“Chanyeol, let’s have Italian. It’s getting cold these days, and I am craving for some lasagna.”

“Italian, it is! Arrivederci! No wait, Ciao! Molto bueno! Mannaggia! Or was it ‘Mangia’?” Chanyeol exclaims happily, saying random things in Italian, as Baekhyun giggles and nudges his boyfriend to stop being so corny in public.

**T-minus 2 hours and 15 minutes…**

“So what do you think? Can we play Starcraft now?” JB spins in his chair as Youngjae scans the music sheets.

“…Jaebum…you know very well I don’t want to play Starcraft when we have a project due next week.”

“But it’s just us in the project! We’re just singing a duet, not performing with limbs like what Luhan-hyung and the others are doing tonight with their dance auditions. We could have gone there to watch, just saying…”

“We could have, had you not  _ procrastinated _ on your part with our project. You were supposed to write the harmony parts!” Youngjae says, feeling a bit annoyed.

“But it’s Saturday~ We still have one more day before the week starts, and besides our duet isn’t until Wednesday.”

“ _ And? _ ” Scoffing, Youngjae stares at JB with a murderous look that says,  _ Dare to retort back at me? _

JB gulps. “And I say we work on our duet and get it done as soon as possible so we can make this work.”

“Right you are, Im Jaebum,” Youngjae nods with a tone of finality, focusing on the music sheets and figuring out what music notes and lyrics would blend well together.

Sounds of a pencil scratching across the paper and papers rustling on the desk, as Youngjae scans the music sheets. JB watches him mutter to himself as he picks up several papers.

“It’s just me and you, in this room, me and you, so alone~” JB singsongs as he gets up from his chair and walks over to his friend.

Youngjae blinks intermittently, with an annoyed expression, as he lifts his head up slowly to stare at JB with a judging look.

JB smiles and pokes at Youngjae’s cheeks. “You’re so cute when you glare, Youngjae-yah. Your cheeks are so puffy.”

“Yah, Jaebum-ah. Stop it.” Youngjae flails his arms to block Jaebum’s incessant prodding fingers. “I said, stop it. You're being weird today, aish.”

JB stops his poking, pouting at his friend, before leaving him. Youngjae assumes that JB has gone to get something from his backpack in the closet behind Youngjae. He is about to write something on the music sheet, when all of a sudden, he is attacked with hands digging at his sides.

“HAHAHAHA, Jahaha-stop! Jaeb-whahahahaha.” Youngjae’s body jerks from the tickles as he crows out laughing. JB, chuckling, continues to tickle Youngjae mercilessly, leaving him no time to breathe and say things correctly.

“ _ JAEBUM stahahahap _ . Stop it! HAHAHA!!  _ JAEBUM DAMMIT, _ ” Youngjae snaps as he moves his chair backwards against JB’s body, almost throwing his friend off balance. As JB stumbles to regain his footings, Youngjae gets out of his chair and turns around, shooting daggers at him. JB stares back guiltily at his friend.

“Can you  _ try _ to be a little more serious right now?” Youngjae scoffs. “This final is  _ really _ important. Playtime can come later,  _ alright _ ? I know you have a natural talent for singing and dancing; but come on; this is  _ college _ , not high school. You know how finals have been in the past two years in college. Use your talents properly. Please, just…can you work with me on this?”

JB bites on his bottom lip, glancing at the music sheets on Youngjae’s desk. He sighs, and nods.

“ _ Thank you _ ,” Youngjae says emphatically as he returns to his desk, often glancing warily at Jaebum. Jaebum comes up behind Youngjae to rest his arms on Youngjae’s shoulders, overlooking the music sheets. Youngjae looks up at him, smiling lightly, and directs his attention back to a paper in front of him. Jaebum scans the melody and harmony notes before looking at Youngjae’s lyrics.

“So what do you think about my lyrics here?” Youngjae asks.

“Hm…it’s not too bad, we could go for ‘My nervous heart that beats wildly only for you, I cannot help but feel like we are meant to be together”…or something, I don’t know...” He hums the tune in Korean, trying to find some kind of rhyme and rhythm between the two lines and a better flow.

**T-minus 1 hour and 15 minutes…**

It is now Luhan’s turn to go on stage, leaving Yixing with the rest of the people waiting to be called. Sehun, Jongin and Jongup have already auditioned, now waiting at the other side of the stage. The leftovers were told to gather around in the room, and those who have already done their auditions were to be gathered in another, just to avoid confusion.

Luhan closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths as his mind starts playing the music that he will be dancing to.

“Number 042090, please come up to the stage.”

“Break a leg, Luhan-ge!” Yixing shouts.

\- - -

Joonmyeon is with Minseok, Yifan and Jongdae as he and Minseok prepare the feast dinner for the dancers in congratulations for having completed their auditions. They only have an hour and a half left before the auditions are over and the dancers, as well as their companions, will be home.

Minseok is preparing a scrumptious feast, with Chinese and Korean dishes. Joonmyeon is helping Minseok in the kitchen, a flurry of Korean emitting smoothly from the mouths of two men. After setting up the table and tidying up the apartment, Jongdae and Yifan are seated in the living room, listening and watching to the news.

**T-minus 45 minutes…**

“Tonight, Seoul will be expecting some showers, less than two centimeters of rainfall, so everyone, please watch out carefully when you’re walking and driving out there,” the weatherwoman in the TV announces.

“Rain? But…December’s supposed to be a dry month, with frost,” Yifan mutters to himself.

“Oh, DAMMIT!!” Minseok shouts, startling Joonmyeon, as he looks into the cabinet while stirring a pot in the kitchen. Yifan and Jongdae immediately turn to the source when Yifan asks his brother what is wrong.

“I need to get some Szechuan spice powder, honeydews and cinnamon! I thought we had enough but now, it looks like I don’t have much! Argh!! I need to get them from Auntie Hwakyung’s grocery store but the broth needs to be constantly stirred and Joonmyeon’s already watching the meat on the stove. The bread needs the cinnamon before it can be baked!”

Minseok looks to the clock and groans. “The guys will be here in about an hour!!”

“Hyung, I can get them if you want,” Jongdae stands up as he offers his assistance and Yifan looks up at him, seated on the couch. “I’ll go there by myself.” Jongdae reaches for his foldable walking stick that is next to him on the side table and unfolds it, locking the rods in place.

“Okay, great! Thanks, Jongdae-yah!”

“I’ll go with you, Chenchen-ah,” Yifan stands up, about to hook his arm with Jongdae when Jongdae gently brushes it away.

“It’s okay, gege,” Jongdae pats his brother’s arm with a smile. “I know where the store is, I have my walking stick.” Yifan blinks at him.

“There’s a chance of rain tonight. Let me go with you, Chenchen,” Yifan says with a tone of stubbornness.

“I’m fine, really, gege!” Jongdae smiles. Yifan stares at him dubiously. “It’s only a few blocks away. Besides, Minseok-hyung may need some assistance if Joonmyeon-hyung isn’t available. One person is enough to carry three grocery items. I’ll be back soon, okay?”

“Jongdae-yah, don’t forget, Szechuan spice powd-“

“Szechuan spice powder, honeydews and cinnamon, yes hyung!” Jongdae finishes the rest of Minseok’s sentence as he makes his way to the door. He opens it before getting his rain jacket and scarf hanging on the wall next to the entry door. Making himself as comfortable as he can for the cold weather outside, he is about to put on his jacket when he feels a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

“Okay…but please be careful, Jongdae-yah. Hurry back home, alright?” Yifan’s voice flows with resignation and a tinge of worry into Jongdae’s ears, and Jongdae feels two arms wrapped around him. He hears a deep breath from above him as Yifan buries his face in Jongdae’s hair. “Don’t stay too long out there. I…please just hurry back as soon as you get the ingredients…I love you, Chenchen-ah, you know that, right? I’m just worried about you being out there in the weather.” He sways with his younger brother on the spot.

Jongdae’s ears perk up at his brother’s tone. “I love you too, gege. But, why are you being like that? It’s not like I’m gonna get mobb-“

“Don’t jinx it, Jongdae-yah,” Yifan snaps softly.

Jongdae chuckles lightly. “Alright, I will hurry back home as soon as I have the ingredients, gege. Don’t worry too much about me; it’s just probably a little shower outside. I’ll be back home before you know it, gege.” He pats Yifan’s arms, before he feels himself being released from his brother’s hold. “See you in a bit!” Jongdae puts on his jacket and walks out the door.

Yifan ruffles his brother’s hair, watching him go. He steps out of the doorway to keep an eye on his brother, who is scanning the hallway floor with his walking stick, walking with confidence. He smiles to himself and crosses his arms before leaning against the wall of the hallway.

**T-minus 30 minutes…**

**_Whooossshhhhh…whhhsshhhhh…_ **

After Jongdae has taken the elevator down and exits out of the apartment building, he shivers as he feels the chilly wind blasting on his face.

“Agh, it’s quite chilly,” Jongdae shudders on the spot, despite his thick layers of clothes. Retrieving his winter woolen cap from the pocket of his jacket, he puts it on and lifts his hoodie on top, before he starts scanning the ground with his walking stick, making his way to the convenience store.

**_Hum of cars’ engines passing by Jongdae as he walks along the curbed sidewalk…_ **

**_Jongdae picks up some scattered chatters around him, but none are relevant to his interests…_ **

_ There should be a third lamp pole around here…Aha. I should be making a right turn once I feel the corner curb,  _ Jongdae thinks to himself as he had counted the last two lamp poles, and arriving at the third lamp pole. Feeling the corner curb nearby, he turns right and moves on. He continues to remember his surroundings and odd landmarks that he associates easily with, changing directions or going straight ahead, after having gone to the convenience store one too many times with his brothers.

After fifteen minutes of walking and knowing where to go, Jongdae finally arrives at the store. He feels for the door and pulls it open.

**_A bell rings…and a gentle female voice is heard from Jongdae’s right…_ **

“Oh, hello, Jongdae-yah! Long time no see! It’s Auntie Hwakyung!”

**_Jongdae smiles, and he feels a soft hand resting on his arm._ **

“I’m here on a quick errand. Minseok-hyung wants some Szechuan spice powder, some honeydews and cinnamon.”

“Oh? You’re in luck. We have some fresh honeydews here and I’ll go get the spices for you, child. Why don’t you come with me and you can sit down at the bench here?”

“Thanks, Auntie, but I can do it.”

“No no, child, let me. I insist.” Hwakyung leads Jongdae to a metal bench and he sits down tentatively, leaning on the stick after his hand feels for the bench. Jongdae hears her speak again as he folds his stick.

“Aigoo, Jongdae-yah. You came alone? Where are the others?”

“Minseok-hyung and Yifan-hyung are cooking up a feast with Joonmyeon-hyung for our friends who are having their dance auditions today. It’s quite a big event because not only are the dance majors being graded, some of them may have the chance to perform for the national dance competition in the next term after the winter break.”

“Oh, wonderful!! And how’s that gentleman friend of yours, Yixing-ah?”

“O-oh,” Jongdae blushes. “He’s doing well, he’s also at the dance audition…He’s also my boyfriend, Auntie Hwakyung.”

“Is that so?? Omo, you two are so sweet for each other, I knew it was bound to happen. Aigoo, Jongdae-yah, you deserve someone like him,” Hwakyung pats Jongdae’s arm, beaming at him. “Ah! Remember when I saw you and Yifan-ah at the park and I told you we have some treats? We have some persimmons and some red bean buns in the kitchen. Would you like some, Jongdae-yah?”

“Yes, please, I would like one of each.”

“As you wish. Let me go get the groceries for you and my daughter will get the snacks. Yookyung-ah? Please get one red bean bun and one persimmon cut up for our handsome regular here!”

Jongdae smiles softly at the name of Yookyung. Though slightly younger than Jongdae by a few months, she was quite tall for a girl when they first met, as he heard her voice slightly above him. She had always been kind and considerate to him, whenever he visits the store with his brothers and sister. She would meet up with him and Sunyoung, and they would talk about stuff that had been going on in their everyday lives, while Yifan and Minseok searched for groceries.

Now, Jongdae and Yookyung are about the same height, and Jongdae feels like she is still the same dongsaeng ever since they first met.

“Jongdae-oppa! Hello~” Yookyung greets Jongdae warmly, carrying the sliced persimmon wedges and a red bean bun on a plate and tray. “Here are your fresh persimmon and fresh-from-the-oven red bean bun~”

“Thank you, Yookyung-ah, I really appreciate what you guys do around here.” Jongdae holds out his hands and feels Yookyung placing the tray on Jongdae’s palms.

“Anything for our regular customers, and you guys are part of my family!”

“For that, I’m most grateful.” Jongdae takes a wedge of persimmon and bites on it, savoring the sweet taste and the nice crunch in his mouth. “Mmm, this is delicious!”

_ Outside, the rain is starting to fall… _

**T-minus 10 minutes…**

A man has gotten out of the bar, feeling a bit buzzed. He tells his friends that he will be going home, and that he still feels fine. The friends are stubborn to let him drive, but the man himself is also stubborn. After a few moments of convincing his friends that he can walk straight and has good memory skills, the friends let it slide and warns him that it will be his own fault if he does something stupid.

The man gets into his car, chuckling, and turns on the ignition. He backs out of the parking space and exits the parking lot located underneath the bar. After emerging from underneath the bar, he arrives at the street level and heads on his way home.

\- -

Meanwhile, Hwakyung has now gathered the groceries and charged Jongdae not a single price on the groceries as a treat. Unfolding his stick, Jongdae thanks her and is about to leave when he hears her voice.

“Oh dear, it’s raining, and it’s so cold out there. Jongdae-yah, do you want me to drive you home?” Hwakyung asks with heavy concern. “I don’t want you to get sick. Your brothers would get worried about you.”

“It’s okay, Auntie. I can make my way back quickly. I know the directions to get there by heart.”

“Are you sure, sweetie? Yookyung or I would be happy to drive you back…”

“Really, I’m fine, Auntie,” Jongdae smiles. “I don’t want to burden you either. Thank you for the offer! I’ll be going now! Take care, Auntie Hwakyung and Yookyung-ah!”

“Be careful!”

Jongdae waves before he exits the store, meeting with a blast of sheer chill and rain.

The rain falls moderately in cold showers as Jongdae continues to walk on, his stick scanning his path. He tenses his grip on the stick, as the string loop on one end wraps around his fingers loosely.

**_Pitter patter pitter patter…step step step step step…_ **

**_“Watch out, missus!”…_ **

**_Cars are driving past Jongdae to get back home…_ **

**_People are brushing against Jongdae, leaving him a bit disoriented at where he is going…_ **

**_Dogs are barking…_ **

_ Okay, where is that lamppost? I need to find it,  _ Jongdae worries. He does not mind that he is getting soaked; he knows the plastic bag is getting wet, but the items are not affected too drastically.

“ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, GO!”

Suddenly, Jongdae hears a stampede of feet and he is literally enveloped in the sea of wet kids who are trying to run after something. Amidst the hustling and bustling in the crowd, Jongdae accidently loses his grip on the walking stick and feels it being tugged before it is out of his grasp. He quickly turns around as he holds onto the grocery bag that has the ingredients.

There are sounds of yelling and excited cheering from the kids, somewhere in front of Jongdae, as someone yells, “I WON! I WON! I REACHED THE FINISH LINE!”

“WAIT, MY STICK! Can any one of you please give me back my stick? I need it.” Jongdae extends his hand out to feel for a kid nearby, before squatting to feel the cold, wet sidewalk for his stick.

“We’re sorry but we don’t know what you’re talking about, ahjusshi! We don’t have your stick. It must have fallen off somewhere.” One of the kids says to him.

“Well, can you find it for me please, kids? I’m completely blind, and I need that stick to get home,” Jongdae insists, before getting up, unsure of where he is standing on.

“Sure, we’ll help.” Murmurs of agreement are heard from the kids, and Jongdae thanks them with a smile. “Come on, let’s go find it for the ahjusshi!”

Little does Jongdae know that the kids did see his walking stick, and that one of the kids had thrown it across the street out of cruel mischief. The kids run off, snickering, allowing Jongdae to think that they will help him, but they are already on their way back home.

Jongdae stands there on the pavement, waiting a few seconds before he asks again. “Well did any of you find it?”

**_Silence…except for a few cars rushing by and the loud pitter-patter of the rain…_ **

“Anyone?”

Jongdae tentatively takes a step forward, holding onto his bag of groceries. His free arm is outstretched, feeling for any poles or lampposts nearby. He continues to sweep the sidewalk with his feet.

“Hello?!”

**_Silence…_ **

**_There are now lesser cars passing by, as the silence between the noises of the cars are getting longer and longer by the minute…_ **

_ Man, is there anyone around?? _ Jongdae frets. He takes a deep breath. “Can anyone help me out here, please?” He is met with silence once again.

Feeling a little dejected, he decides to take a bold move and take a step forward, not even aware that he is standing near the curb.

**_A trip on the curb has Jongdae stumbling onto the street…_ **

**_HONK HONK!!_ **

“Ahh!” Jongdae exclaims just as a honk sounded further away, and he scrambles to find the curb, only to collide with a parked car. There is another honk approaching louder as Jongdae hears the car rushing by behind him, at least a foot away from him.

His heart beating wildly, Jongdae recovers from the shock.  _ I could have almost died… _ Jongdae feels alarmed. At the same time, he feels anger and disappointment boiling in his stomach.  _ Those kids…they’re not even around. _

“I’ll just go and find it myself then!” Jongdae shouts to the chilly rain, as he gathers himself and searches for his stick. Nervously, he feels the parked car and walks further down, feeling the door handles and then the curvature of the car’s back into the trunk as he tries to feel around for the curb with his feet. He groans to himself at his bad luck.  _ Where is my walking stick? _

\- - -

**T-minus 3 minutes…**

Yixing takes a deep breath as he stands in the corner of the stage, hidden from the audience’s view. He waits for his number to be called as he tries to relax himself, thinking back on his performance he gave for Jongdae. He smiles to himself as he remembers the conversation they had following their confession, and Jongdae’s voice resounds in his head.

_ “As friends having gone through thick and thin, through the bad and good times in the years past, we’ve made it this far to become a couple today. Let’s promise that we will continue to uphold our lifelong bond that we have, that we’ll never leave each other’s side.” _

“Number 100791, please come up to the stage.”

Yixing snaps out of his thoughts as he hears his number called and he smiles the dimpled-smile.

_ This is for you, Zhongda _ , Yixing thinks to himself as he makes his way onstage, hearing some cheers from the audience.

\- -

Dongwoon and Kikwang are coming out of the restaurant after their dinner date. They hold hands and tell stupid jokes, their bright personalities unaffected with the gloomy night sky.

“So which of our entrees did you like, mine or yours?” Dongwoon asks Kikwang.

“Hmm…I like mine better, the chef’s special sushi was delicious…yours was pretty typical, the udon noodles.”

“Hyung, mine wasn’t just any typical udon, it was the best udon I have ever tasted in my whole life! You can’t go wrong with Seafood and Tofu Udon!”

**T-minus 2 minutes…**

Having already left the bar, the man is enjoying music blasting from his car stereo. He takes out his phone from his jacket, hearing a text message alert as he continues to drive in the wet weather. He opens up the text in his phone, his eyes glancing quickly between the road and his phone. He hurries to text back a reply while driving when suddenly, the phone slips out of his hand due to his slippery grip and it falls to the floor beneath his legs.

“AW DAMMIT!”

The man grunts and leans down to look for the phone. His eyes flickering up and down between his lap and the road, he continues to drive as he reaches his hand down, feeling for the phone. Still not finding it, he checks the road and decides that the coast is clear so he can look down to search properly. He misses the fact that the stoplight further down the road has just turned yellow.

**T-minus 1 minute and 40 seconds…**

Dongwoon and Kikwang are walking leisurely in the rainy weather to Dongwoon’s place since it is nearby, with Dongwoon holding an umbrella. Kikwang spots a walking stick lying carelessly near the sidewalk curb.

“Hey, wait a minute, what’s that stick doing there?” Kikwang slows to a stop, causing his boyfriend to stop too. He lets go of their hands and walks over to the curb, picking up the stick. He takes a good look around the stick.

“Hm?” Dongwoon looks at Kikwang, and then at the stick now in his lover’s hand. There is a nametag attached to it. “Whose is it?”

“Lee Jongd- Oh crap, it’s  _ Jongdae’s _ .” Kikwang whirls around in panic to search for the owner. “Jongdae can’t go anywhere without this stick. This is not good at all, Dongwoon-ah. JONGDAE, WHERE ARE YOU?!” Breaking into a run, he scans the sidewalk, with Dongwoon following him, unaware that they are heading in the opposite direction of where Jongdae is walking.

\- - -

Jongdae continues to walk hurriedly near the curb, unable to find his stick. He makes a daring assumption that his walking stick must be on the other side of the street. After walking for some time, he comes across a pole around the corner, his hand brushes against a button. He remembers, from the touch and the location that he is in, that he is at the intersection. He waits for the voice on the other side to say, “Walk Sign is on”.

**T-minus 20 seconds…**

**_“Walk Sign is on…Walk sign is on…Walk Sign is on…Wal- blip…blip…blip…blip…”_ **

Jongdae waits to hear any cars, hesitant to think that he is safe from harm when the sign is on. When he hears no sound of nearby cars, he hesitantly makes his way over to the other side.

\- - -

“Wait, who are you talking about?” Dongwoon says between pants, hunched over his knees. He and Kikwang have arrived at the end of the block and still cannot find Jongdae. Kikwang is freaking out, searching for Jongdae on their side of the street.

“We must be wrong. What if he’s on the other end?”

“Kikwang-hyung.” Dongwoon says sternly, and Kikwang looks at him, panic filling his eyes. “Who is this Lee Jongdae?”

Kikwang looks like as if Dongwoon had lost his mind. “The blind guy that Kyungsoo’s friends with, the one we served at ChaKeo Corner, remember??”

**T-minus 20 seconds…**

Dongwoon’s heart is stricken with a pang of fear as he stares at Kikwang, remembering how he himself was chatting with Jongdae and Yixing about Chinese lessons.

“Shit, okay. Let’s go see if he’s at the other end, come on!”

Dongwoon and Kikwang run to the other end of the block. They are nearing to the restaurant that they had exited out a few minutes ago before Kikwang found Jongdae’s stick, not knowing that Jongdae is seconds away from danger.

The man’s hands continue to feel around for his phone until the man finds it lodged between his seat and the door. He switches his grip on the wheel and reaches for it, accidentally accelerating on the slippery road, not even bothering to look up where a certain young adult is legally crossing the street, but seems to be wandering in a confused manner.

**T-minus 10 seconds…**

Running past the restaurant, Kikwang spots a man walking nervously across the street, meters away from them.

“Dongwoon, is that Jongdae over there!? It’s Jongdae! JONGDAE!! YAH, JONGDAE!!!” Kikwang shouts to Jongdae. Jongdae appears to be confused and continues to walk, not knowing that he is already walking outside of the white painted path. “OVER HERE!”

**T-minus 5 seconds…**

When the man finally gets his phone out, he looks to the road and his eyes widen as he hurries to step on the brake, turning his wheel to the right, but the road is too damp and cold to create friction with the tires.

Kikwang and Dongwoon realize too late that a car is skidding on the road, with Jongdae in harm’s way. Having lost the grip on the road, the car’s left side is now heading towards the blind young man.

**T-minus 4 seconds…**

**_HOONKK!!_ **

Jongdae is startled at the sudden noise and is scrambling to get away.

“JONGDAE! NOO!! JONGDAE, GET OVER HERE!” Kikwang and Dongwoon are screaming their hearts out while running, not wanting to expect the inevitable. Tears are forming in Kikwang’s eyes as he continues to shout helplessly.

**T-minus 3 seconds…**

**_HONK HONK!!_ **

Jongdae hears his name being called but it is an unfamiliar voice. Mixed with the cold rain, wind and the honking, it is hard for him to tell whose voice it is and where the voice is coming from. He walks to his left, going off the path, away from the voice, heading to the danger.

**T-minus 2 seconds…**

**_“NO, JONGDAE! ON YOUR RIGHT!!! NO NO NO NO!!”_ **

**_HOOOOONNNNNKKKK!!!!!_ **

**T-minus 1 second…**

Jongdae whirls his head around, overwhelmed with a wave of chaotic noises.

**T-minus 0 seconds…**

**_7:15, Time of Impact._ **

\- - -

_ Deafening screams burst out of Kikwang’s and Dongwoon’s throats as they watch the car collide with Jongdae… _

Time seems to stop for a few seconds, as Kikwang and Dongwoon immediate stop in their run, only several meters away from the scene. They watch in horror at the scene in front of them.

\- - -

**_Jongdae’s breath is taken away when he is pushed violently sideways by the side of the car upon impact…_ **

**_His body is pushed with such force that he is lifted into the air, a curvature that seems to mimic the crescent moon in the sky…_ **

**_The grocery bag is flown out of Jongdae’s arms, after one of Jongdae’s elbows makes a dull sound as it hits the car passenger’s window…_ **

**_Jongdae feels like he is flying in the rain, but the feeling lasts only for a few seconds…_ **

The car moves with Jongdae, continuing without friction on the road, as the driver looks to his left in sheer panic at his own doing.

Jongdae feels a rough landing as his body hits the ground first before the side of his head knocks the ground, and Jongdae is tumbling and rolling, until he slows to a sprawl-eagled position. The cold, wet asphalt mercilessly has scratched at his skin, unfazed with Jongdae’s coat material.

The car skids to a stop, bumping lightly against a parked car. But the driver, still in his slightly intoxicated state, freaks out and drives away from the incident, muttering  _ “ohshitohshit…what did I just do…what the fuck did I just do?!? I don’t wanna go to jail!!” _

A flashback of Jongdae’s recent date with Yixing is the last thing that Jongdae hears in his mind, as the weeping shouts of “JONGDAE!! WE’RE COMING!! DON’T YOU DIE RIGHT THERE!” turns into a buzzing, screeching sound lost in Jongdae’s ears…

_ “Let’s promise… that we’ll never leave each other’s side…” _

**_And for a moment, Jongdae sees color…_ **

**_His eyes take in the sights of the grey sidewalk curbs, the black road, the dark green trees, and the signs above the buildings…_ **

**_A small twitch of a smile on his face…_ **

“Yixing…?”

**_It is only for a fleeting moment before blackness takes over…_ **

**_Jongdae slips away into the silence, no longer feeling the cold rain on his face or the horrible pain in his body…_ **

\- -

**_7:15PM…_ **

_ Thud. _

Yixing delivers his performance with a final pose, landing on his knees and breathing heavily. The sound his knees make onstage fades into the silence of the darkness in front of him.

“Thank you, number 100791. You may go ahead.”

Yixing keeps a straight face as he gets up and bows, feeling happy inside and wanting to rush to his friends and to Jongdae’s place, ecstatic that he has done well with his audition.

_ Zhongda, I can’t wait to see you tonight _ , Yixing thinks to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep.
> 
> What have I done?!?!


	27. Flashbacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Upon seeing the rain outside the window of his apartment, Yifan revisits his memories to when Jongdae lost his sight, and he almost lost his brother.
> 
> Trigger Warnings: Graphic State(s) of Being on a Minor, Blood, Extreme Form of Physical Pain and Emotional Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This past year has been quite a rollercoaster, with family and real life. And especially some lives have been lost, (we all know who, and his birthday had recently passed) and a new life came to this world. I'm sorry that this took so long.

The scene is fresh in Kikwang’s mind, as he and Dongwoon stay rooted in their spots on the sidewalk, too stunned to move.

_The body of the young adult flying into the air for a couple of seconds before colliding with the ground, rolling to a stop, sprawl-eagled on the ground…_

_The grocery bag lays several feet in front of Kikwang and Dongwoon…_

Dongwoon brings himself to run over to Jongdae. Shouting at Jongdae in hoping that he is alive, he also shouts to the car, flipping the driver off as the car turns at the intersection, never to be seen again. Dongwoon kneels next to Jongdae, one hand grabbing his wrist and placing another gently on the side of Jongdae’s neck, checking for a pulse. Unsure about the neck pulse, he focuses on Jongdae’s wrist. There is a faint pulse, and Dongwoon can feel that Jongdae is hanging on by a thread.

“Jongdae-yah, can you hear me? It’s Dongwoon from the Chakeo Café, remember me?” Dongwoon shakes Jongdae’s shoulders gently, noticing the bloody gashes on the face and his closed eyes. He leans his head closer to Jongdae’s mouth to feel any sign of breathing on his cheek, any warm puffs of air. “Jongdae?”

Dongwoon waits a few seconds again for any sign of breathing from Jongdae, as their clothed bodies battle against the cold wet rain, and finding none, he hurries to perform CPR.

\- - -

Meanwhile, Kikwang is holding Jongdae’s walking stick in one of his hands, his other hand is brought up to his mouth due to the shock, his breaths coming out in quick puffs, at loss for words. Shaking himself from the daze, he takes out his phone and, with trembling fingers, makes an emergency call.

“Hello, caller. What is your emergency?”

“M-My friend has bee..n i-involved in a hit-and-run accident…” Kikwang informs the operator of the location of the accident, and begs the operator to send an ambulance right away because his friend does not appear to be moving, as Dongwoon tries his best to keep him alive.

\- - -

Kikwang makes other calls to Jinki and Doojoon, aware of the connections outside of Chakeo Corner.

_Ring…ring…_

“Hello, Kikwang-ah? What a sur-”

“J-Jinki-hyung, there’s b-been an accident.” Kikwang interrupts, trying to control his breathing as he bounces on the balls of his feet in anxiety.

“What? Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine, I’m with Dongwoon, but Jongdae isn’t…he’s just been hit by a car, and he didn’t have his walking stick with him. I don’t know what happened because he was across the street from where we found the stick. Oh god, _hyung_ ,” Kikwang starts hyperventilating.

“Wait wait what? Jongdae’s been hit? Where are you guys?”

“I-In Jongno-gu part of Seoul. W-We just got done with our restaurant date and came across what looked like Jongdae’s walking stick on a sidewalk, and then we were searching for him when we arrived too late to see a car skidding in the rain…w-with Jongdae in the middle of its path. Oh god, I can’t believe I just saw it happen, hyung.” Kikwang tries to close his eyes to block out the recent images of the accident, but they still replay behind closed lids. “It happened right in front of our eyes. Jongdae was trying to cr-cross the street and we tried to get him to run back to the sidewalk but he was so confused, and…th-…the _car. hit. him._ ”

“ _What?!_ Did you get the license or a view of the driver??”

“No I couldn’t, hyung. I’m so s-sorry. The car sped off; neither Dongwoon nor I couldn’t get a clear view of the license.” Kikwang sniffles. “But listen, can you please get in touch with Jongdae’s family? I need to call Doojoon-hyung. The ambulance is on its way here.”

“O-okay, I’ll let his family know. I’ll call Joonmyeon since he’s over at Jongdae’s place for the feast. I think I know which hospital Jongdae will be taken to, there’s the campus nearby, right?”

“Yeah, hyung, the operator told me Jongdae would be taken to that hospital.”

“Okay, see you guys there.”

“Bye, hyung.”

Kikwang does not wait for Jinki to hang up, as he makes another call to Doojoon.

“Kikwang-ah? What’s up?”

“Hyung,” Kikwang says sadly. “I’m not gonna be home for another few hours. There’s been a hit-and-run accident with a friend from Chakeo Corner.”

“Wha- is he okay? Who is it?”

“...It’s Lee Jongdae, he’s friends with Jinki-hyung’s brothers.”

“ _Geez_ , isn’t Jongdae the blind young man? Is he okay??”

“Yes, that’s him, and I don’t know, hyung. Dongwoon is checking his status at the moment, but he doesn’t seem to be moving at all,” Kikwang moans while rambling, and he hears an ambulance coming.

“Hyung, I gotta go. The ambulance’s almost here.” Kikwang sees the red flashing lights atop a vehicle nearing the scene.

“Okay, take care, Kikwang-ah. And Dongwoon, too. Wait, text me which hospital he’ll be at, I’ll be on my way.”

Kikwang hangs up after Doojoon ends the call and, as the ambulance comes to a stop near Dongwoon and Jongdae, Kikwang walks up to the scene. In hushed disbelief, he sees Jongdae laying on the ground, bloodied and unmoving. The ambulance drivers get out of their vehicle and take out a stretcher for Jongdae, lowering it down. They then transfer Jongdae onto the stretcher, strapping a neck brace around Jongdae’s neck to prevent further discomforting pain, and one of them promptly places an oxygen mask on Jongdae’s mouth.

“There’s a faint pulse. His name’s Lee Jongdae, 20. Blind. He was not breathing earlier but I performed CPR on him just now, so his breathing’s shallow for the time being. He needs to be taken to the ER right away.”

“We’re about to do that, sir. Will you guys mind coming with us?” The drivers move the stretcher with Jongdae on it into the back of the ambulance.

“Of course we’ll go with him,” Kikwang quickly says. “He’s our friend.”

“Hold on, I need to get the bag Jongdae was holding.”

Dongwoon hurries to grab the bag of ruined honeydew and spices, which were still intact in their small baggies, on the street and climbs aboard the ambulance. The drivers get on the vehicle and drive off to the hospital.

\- - -

_Rain is falling outside the window…_

“Where is Jongdae? It’s already been over 30 minutes.” Seated on the couch, Yifan glances at the clock as he sees the rain falling outside the windows. He gets up and walks to the windows, scanning the streets.

The table has been set but the unbaked bread is still waiting for the cinnamon that has not arrived, and Minseok leaves his pot to low heat so that once he gets the Sichuan powder, he can put it in at the last minute. Minseok and Joonmyeon join Yifan in the living room to sit down on the couch, exhausted from all the cooking.

Worriedly, Yifan stares out the window as he remembers back when Jongdae first lost his sight on a rainy morning when he and Jongdae were young.

_\- - - -_

_Jongdae was climbing a tree under the supervision of Yifan. Minseok-hyung had been out with their father, fishing out at sea. Their mother was taking care of Sunyoung inside the house. Yifan was sitting down on the porch bench, keeping a close eye on Jongdae out in the grove, near the harvest fields. The younger brother had always like to climb and it was hard to stop the little ball of energy._

_That day, the sky appeared to be in a cloudy haze. Yifan had a feeling it was going to rain soon, but he ignored it and kept his watch on his younger brother. Hearing Jongdae squeal with delight at his own success of climbing higher, it was music to Yifan’s ears. He feels that Jongdae knew what he was putting himself into; the boy always experimented his curiosity by testing out the strength of the branches every day and knew which branches are off-limits to climb. Despite that feeling, he still kept his eye on him. His eyes followed Jongdae as the younger brother finally reached the limit of the tree’s strength and held tight to the strong trunk, looking down at his older brother with a smile on his face._

_Jongdae giggled and shouted out to Yifan, “GEGE! LOOK AT ME!! I’M ON TOP OF THE WORLD!!!”_

_Yifan could not prevent his smile from appearing, as he saw his younger brother squirming to get onto the thick limb adjacent to the trunk, laughing with excitement. Despite the cloudy day, Jongdae was the sun to him._

_Then there was a flash of lightning in the clouds behind Jongdae, and a boom of thunder. Terrified, Yifan felt as if there was a grip on his heart as he quickly stood up, and was torn between staying under the roofed porch and running out to get Jongdae. His younger brother had clung to the tree, appearing to be half-excited and half-scared at the proximity of the sound._

_“CHEN-CHEN, GET DOWN FROM THERE!” He shouted in panic and fear for his brother’s life._

_His brother was so high up on that tree; it was impossible to know where lightning may strike, especially in an open space with no lightning rods around. Taking a moment to turn around and see if there is any lightning only to find none, Jongdae’s mood went back to being happy as ever. He looked back at his brother with gleaming, bold eyes, shouting back without any fear, “Okay, I’m going to come down!”_

_Not long after Jongdae started to climb down did the flashes of lightning and loud booms of thunder roll across the sky. Itching to run but not wanting to risk his life getting struck by lightning, Yifan felt helpless because the thunders and lightning were so close to each other, and it meant danger. As if the situation could not get any worse, the rain arrived, lightly at first and then pouring down mercilessly._

_Yifan stood there, his heart racing, as he watched his brother gently climbing down, careful not to lose his footing on any loose branch. He kept muttering a mantra to himself, praying for his brother’s safety._

_Whatever higher being there was up in the sky, they did not listen._

_Yifan could only watch in horror when a lightning bolt struck at the tree that Jongdae was climbing down, and saw his brother freeze in his tracks mid-climb before giving into violent spasms due to the shock current passing through. A loose, thick branch from the top of the tree came tumbling down, colliding with Jongdae and bringing him to crash against the other many branches of the tree. His brother never reached the ground._

_Yifan heard a scream –_ was that his own? _– and next thing he knew, he was running to the tree, searching for his baby brother._

_“JONGDAE!? WHERE ARE YOU?!?! JONGDAE!!”_

_Amidst the pouring rain, the rustling of the soaked branches and leaves, Yifan kept scanning for any signs of his brother, any movement that would give him away. He heard his mother screaming for her children, “YIFAN? CHEN?” He answered back with a “CALL FOR HELP, MAMA!” while searching desperately for his brother._

_“CHEN-CHEN, CAN YOU HEAR ME?! WHERE ARE YOU??”_

_Finally, Yifan saw a branch drop to his left and he could hear a loud, excruciating sobbing. He looked up from where the branch dropped and saw his brother’s body draped tightly across one of the thick branches, legs and arms holding on for dear life. His brother’s eyes were shut tightly, and his face contorted in pain and sadness. A bloody wound was seen on the side of his head, and it appeared that blood seemed to be trickling from one eye._

_“OWW!! GEGE, HELP ME!! WHERE ARE YOU?!”_

_Making his way over, Yifan reached out to Jongdae, and shouted for him to let go, that he would catch him. He was getting tall for his age and he was glad to take advantage of his height._

_“CHEN-CHEN, I’M HERE, JUST LET GO.”_

_“I CAN’T…OWW!!” Jongdae was sobbing loudly and shook his head, clutching to the branch in terror. Yifan kept reassuring him to let go, that he was right below him._

_“OOWWW! My eyes, gege!! I can’t see anything!! It hurts so bad!!” Jongdae moaned and shouted blindly to the wind and rain pouring. Yifan felt his heart shattering when he heard his brother crying, eyes still squeezed shut and blood flowing from one of his closed eyes, but he kept his stance strong and kept telling him to let go of the branch._

_“I’m right below you, Chen-chen! Just let go and fall, I’ll be right here to catch you! I know you’re scared right now, but do it for me, please! H-Honestly, Jongdae, I’m scared that this tree might collapse and I might lose you, and I won’t forgive myself ever. I would rest easy if you could let go and fall into my arms, I’m seriously right below you, Chen-chen. Please, you have to let go!” Yifan shouted to his brother, his voice mixed with sincerity and worry. “Please, Jongdae-yah…you’ll be safe here on the ground and with me!”_

_Another lightning flashed across the sky and the thunder boomed louder than before, and that was all it took for Jongdae to let go and fall with a frightened squeal and flailing limbs._

_Yifan caught Jongdae in his arms, his legs spread out a few feet apart, helping him to stand his ground. When they slightly rebounded from Jongdae’s lightweight body, his brother’s right arm hit his face as Jongdae flailed to feel for Yifan’s neck and held on tight. He brought his head to Yifan’s neck and continued to sob in pain. Yifan, with Jongdae in his arms, ran straight for the house, to their mother holding Sunyoung in her arms, looking horrified. He heard Jongdae’s whimperings of “gege” and “I can’t see” clearer as he entered the porch._

\- - - -

7:30PM

A phone rings loud in the silence, snapping a slightly teary-eyed Yifan out of his reminiscence. His heart almost lurches at the sound, expecting it to be either Jongdae calling from Auntie Hwakyung’s store or one of Jongdae’s friends at the dance auditions, but mostly the former.

“It’s Jinki-hyung…” Joonmyeon murmurs, puzzled. “Hi, hyung, what’s up?” Joonmyeon’s voice fills the silence. “I’m…Yeah, I’m with Yifan-hyung and Minseok-hyung.”

Yifan glances back outside the window, scanning the streets below.

“ _What?”_

He whirls around quickly to look at Joonmyeon, catching his alarmed voice. His heart starts to beat rapidly. Minseok is watching the young man on the phone with a wary expression.

_Don’t panic yet…whatever you do,_ Yifan thinks to himself. _Don’t panic._

Joonmyeon looks worriedly between Minseok and Yifan, holding his stare longer with Yifan before his eyes slowly lowers to the floor.

“On the street…?”

_Don’t panic…_ Yifan is conscious at how heavy and slightly erratic his breathing is.

“…Okay. I will. Yes, hyung, they’re right here with me. I don’t know, I’ll call the others. See you there.”

A gong resounds in Yifan’s head and his blood goes cold as Joonmyeon ends the call and takes a deep breath, shakily as it sounds. Joonmyeon closes his phone and stares at it sadly, before letting out a sigh. Yifan glances at Minseok, who is staring back at him with a worry etched on his face.

“U-uh...uhm…There’s b…” Joonmyeon’s voice is cracking, fighting with emotions. He clears his throat, but when he tries to speak up again, it comes out choked. “Th…There’s been a…hit-and-run… D-Dongwoon and Kikwang-hyung…they saw it ha-” Joonmyeon’s voice falters as he tries to explain.

“ _Is Jongdae okay?”_ Lips shaking, Yifan growls at Joonmyeon, startling the said male and Minseok. The eldest brother shoots an alarmed gaze at his brother; Joonmyeon winces and glances at Yifan.

“I…I don’t know, hyung.”

“ _D-dammit_.” His voice quivering, Yifan feels his tears welling up in his eyes; he storms out of the room to get his jacket in his shared bedroom with Minseok. Taking a collected breath, Minseok gets up and hurries to get the keys as Joonmyeon turns off the stove, making sure all the kitchen appliances are unplugged and turned off.

“I’ll… I’ll drive,” Minseok announces as he opens the door and waits, while Joonmyeon leaves the kitchen, just in time to see Yifan come out of the bedroom.

“Hyung, are you sure?” Minseok looks a little distracted, but he nods firmly at Joonmyeon. Yifan looks shaken up and he has an unreadable expression on his face, despite his eyes looking red as he looks down.

“J-Joonmyeon, d-do you know which hospital h-he’s going to be at?” Yifan’s steel-hardened, though shaky, voice flows into Joonmyeon’s ears, his face fighting to keep a calm appearance, as Joonmyeon watches him with pity.

“Yes, I’ve already got it in the GPS.”

“Then let’s go” Yifan brushes past Joonmyeon, rushing out of the apartment, and the two guys follow him.

\- -

Yifan is seated in the back, as Joonmyeon verbally and gesturally guides Minseok to the hospital when necessary in the rain, in spite of the female voice emitting from the GPS. He roughly dries his tears that had fell at some point after he got into the car, praying that Jongdae will be all right when he gets there, will have managed to survive with non-threatening injuries, and will be _conscious_ and _awake_.

_\- - - -_

_Yifan took Jongdae to the living room, drenched from the rain. With their frantic mother and sister trailing behind them, he tried to place him on the sofa, but Jongdae would not let go of Yifan’s neck. The older brother found himself in a half-bow, as Jongdae was half-laid on the couch._

_“Jongdae, it’s only a couch. Nothing to be afraid of. You’re home.”_

_The younger brother held tighter onto Yifan and shook his head, whimpering and whining loudly._

_“Gege,_ please _. Don’t let go of me.”_

_Yifan looked to his mom desperately until they heard an ambulance outside. The mother went quickly to let the paramedics inside. They brought in a stretcher for Jongdae to lie on, but the boy was being persistent. He still refused to let go of Yifan’s neck and did not even lift his head, his body scooting closer to Yifan, and it causes the brother to kneel besides him._

_Yifan repeatedly crooned to his brother, petting his tousled and wet hair, that he would be fine and that they would be riding with him to the hospital._

_“Chen-chen, I’ll be right next to you, holding your hand. Once they have you lying down on the stretcher, I won’t let go, and I’m not letting anyone else touch you after that.”_

_At this, Jongdae cracked open one eye and peeked at him before he reluctantly relaxed his hold and allowed his body to be placed on the stretcher. He whimpered pitifully and croaked out in pain when he tried to move, quickly grabbing hold of his brother’s hand._

_Their mother and siblings got a good look of their younger family member. They reacted with widened eyes in shock at the blood that was really leaking from Jongdae’s closed eye. The other eye that Jongdae was using, though half-lidded, appeared to be almost completely red, in contrast to his dark brown iris. Reeling from the shock, they heard the paramedics instructing them to go with them so they can get to the hospital as soon as possible._

_“His bodily injuries could be fatal,” one of the paramedics said._

\- - - -

With a heaving chest and grieving sobs, Yifan’s face contorts from the pain the memory brings him as he tries to get himself together. Clearing his throat, he brings his hands to his eyes and sighs quickly, willing the tears to stop. Teary-eyed Joonmyeon looks behind him and watches Yifan with pity, thinking that the latter male was reacting to different possibilities of Jongdae’s condition. He reaches out to gently pat Yifan’s knee, but Yifan jerks his knee away from Joonmyeon’s touch, not wanting to be disturbed. Joonmyeon retracts his hand back and turns his attention to Minseok, whose tears are falling but he keeps glancing at the rearview mirror, checking on his brother. The sight of Yifan breaks their hearts, as Yifan rocks back and forth in his seat, his strangled sobs audible amidst the cheerful female automated voice from the GPS.

\- - - -

_With Jongdae gripping on his hand and lying on the stretcher, Yifan felt himself walking and being pulled to the ambulance, their mother and sister behind him. Though Jongdae’s grip had seemed a bit painful, nothing was more painful to Yifan than the guilt he felt for allowing his brother to climb higher in the tree. The wretched, pitiful sounds of “gege”s and “mama”s from Jongdae pierced Yifan’s and their mother’s hearts as they got on the ambulance with a medical responder. Their mother cradled her second eldest son’s head and shushed him, as whimpers of apologies and gulps were heard from the son, despite tearing up herself and praying for her youngest son’s condition. The poor daughter was staring at her badly injured brother in quiet shock and disbelief. It wouldn’t be long before they arrived at the hospital._

_\- - -_

7:45PM

“We’re here, guys. There’s the ER; Joonmy-” Minseok is about to instruct the guys when Yifan suddenly opens the door and gets out of the car, running to the ER. “GO, GO! Follow Yifan, Joonmyeon! Text me where you’ll be at!!” Joonmyeon hurries to catch up with Yifan as Minseok shouts out instructions to him.

Yifan enters the ER Wing with gasping breaths, bloodshot eyes and his clothes dripping wet, looking around wildly for any sign of Jongdae. He hears Joonmyeon catching up behind him, before he hears his name being called.

“Yifan! Joonmyeon! Over here!”

Yifan looks around to find one of the two guys waving, his face painted with worry, and he recognizes the two males from Chakeo Corner.

The two guys hurry over to the duo, with Joonmyeon texting Minseok where to find them. When Yifan and Joonmyeon finally reach them, Kikwang holds out Jongdae’s walking stick to Yifan, as well as the ruined bag of ingredients. The sight of them causes Yifan to slow down to a staggering walk.

“I-I’m sorry, Yifan-ah. We found his stick, a-and everything happened so fast.”

His breath hitching in his throat, Yifan stares at the walking stick in shock, as it looks a little damaged. His eyes fall on the nametag that is still there, attached to the handle.

_Lee Jongdae._

Tearing up, Yifan hears Joonmyeon asking as he takes the items. “Has there been any news on Jongdae?”

Dongwoon and Kikwang shake their heads, shrugging before Dongwoon explains. “After the car sped off, I went over to him and felt a faint pulse, but he wasn’t breathing.”

Yifan feels like he cannot breathe at the moment. Hearing the words “faint pulse” causes his shoulders to sag heavily.

“The car hit him from the side pretty bad. He took a rough landing, Jongdae. It’s possible he might have had a serious concussion because he was not responding right away.”

“A…c- _concussion?_ ” Yifan chokes out with a grimace on his face.

“Yeah,” Dongwoon says with a sympathetic tone. “I performed CPR on him though, and thankfully, I managed to get a shallow breathing out of him, so at least, he’s breathing.”

Kikwang nods solemnly. “But when we got here, Jongdae flatlined” – Yifan’s blood goes cold and he exhales a shuddering breath; Joonmyeon’s eyes has widened and his jaw drops – “but the doctors manage to resuscitate him, and we got Jongdae back, but he’s still hanging on.”

“Is Jongdae alright?!?” Minseok suddenly pops out of nowhere, breathing heavily, just as Yifan intakes a shaky breath of relief. The eldest brother bends over in exhaustion, his hands on his knees, as he takes a few moments to catch his breath.

Yifan staggers to the nearby chair as Dongwoon and Joonmyeon help him sit down, while Kikwang explains to Minseok about the situation. He sits on his seat, numb with shock.

Once he was informed, Minseok takes out his cell phone, tears falling profusely.

“H-how am I…What am I even going to tell them?” Minseok feels a hand on his shoulder, and knows it is Kikwang. There is a gentle squeeze as an act of consolation. “And it’s so late at night…” He is sniffling but he is still holding strong, despite his shaky hand trying to press some buttons.

“Just tell them what they need to know, Minseok, not everything but just the gist. Let them absorb those facts. And the more news we’ll find out about his condition, the more you can tell them later on, okay?”

He nods, his fingers slowly pushing the buttons of the number of the last people who would want to know what happened to Jongdae: their parents in the countryside.

Kikwang informs Minseok that Jinki had called Qian and Kibum, and that Qian is on her way to pick up Sunyoung from Kibum’s place. Grimly, Minseok asks Joonmyeon to call Yongguk, to break the news to Yixing alone. Yixing was performing tonight and he, as Jongdae’s boyfriend, had the right to know. Joonmyeon does not hesitate to do so, getting up to go to one corner to make the call, but not before glancing briefly at Yifan to see how he is doing.

Dongwoon is leaning with his back against the wall, opposite Yifan. He watches him, being in a stupor as the latter stares at the floor with blank eyes.

“ _Adeul-ah…”_

Just then, Minyoung’s voice is heard through Minseok’s cellphone. Minseok feels like his heart is being wrung harshly just from thinking about making that announcement.

“…U-umma…” He lets out a heavy sigh, trying to clear his emotions and mind, as he tries to break the news to their mother. “J-Jongdae’s…been in an ac-accident.” He is silently crying on the phone as he stands near one corner of the ER wing, at a respectable distance from the others. Kikwang takes a seat next to Dongwoon, nervously glancing around for any sign of Jongdae on a stretcher.

\- - - -

_When Jongdae and his family arrived with the ambulance at the hospital, it was a great struggle for him to let go of his brother’s hand because it was the only familiar tactile memory he had. When the doors opened and they filed out of the ambulance with Jongdae, they entered the hospital and were met with doctors and nurses, who were checking with the paramedics and checking for Jongdae’s condition. The boy had a bandage wrap around his head, covering his eyes, having been applied on the way to the hospital._

_The family heard that the patient was going to need to be x-rayed and placed in the ER for the treatment of his wounds and of his condition. When the doctors assured Yifan and his mother that they will do their best to save their son and make sure he will live, Yifan relaxed his hand in the process. However, Jongdae had a different reaction; he held on tighter._

_“No…” He whispered. “Hyung, please.”_

_The older brother felt Jongdae’s hand violently trembling in his grasp as the younger brought his other hand to hold onto their intertwined hands._

_Noticing this, the nurses started to pry Jongdae’s hands gently, but Jongdae refused to budge, his stubborn whimpers becoming louder by the seconds. Yifan could not blame him; the hands must have felt foreign on his arms._

_“It’ll be okay, Chen-chen. You’re in the hospital and it means you’re in good hands with the doctors.” Trying to reassure him, he stroked his thumb on the back of Jongdae’s hand. Jongdae started crying, as he kept holding tight, shaking his head and refusing to let go._

_“N-no no, p-pl-please, hyung… Don’t let go of my hand. Pleasepleaseplease… Don’t le-leave me. W-Why aren’t you saying something? I don’t wanna go in there alone!” The sobs started to take over his voice as he shook off the other hands, still holding onto Yifan’s hand. “Yif-oww! My eyes!!”_

_Jongdae brought his other hand to his bandaged wrap, scrambling at it, but his efforts to clasp against his eyes were futile. Yifan tried to loosen his grip, guiltily taking advantage of his brother’s distraction, but Jongdae’s stubborn grip had him._

_“No, no, no, c-can’t you c-come w-with m-me, please? …P-Please, hyung, j-just come with me. H-hyung,_ please _. Why aren’t you saying anything? Please_ stay _with me.” Yifan heard Jongdae pleading between heartbroken sobs, and it hurt him a lot more than the grasp on his hand. He couldn’t find himself to speak._

_When the nurses finally succeeded in pulling Jongdae’s hands off Yifan’s hand, Jongdae screamed, not only was his body unable to move because of the pain he was feeling inside, but because there was a pain of absence he felt, no longer familiar with his surroundings._ _With every backward step Yifan took away from the stretcher, every heart-wrenching sound that came out of Jongdae’s throat was like a bullet to his heart. Jongdae gave into screaming sobs as he felt himself being restrained by the nurses’ hands and the straps of the gurney._

_“NO! HYUNG, PLEASE! P-PLE…ASE! COME BACK!! C-…COME BACK!!!”_

_Tears fell profusely from Yifan’s eyes, and Yifan could only feel his heart shattering to pieces at the sight of his helpless brother, lying on the stretcher and writhing under the restraints, yearning only for Yifan alone. Their mother could only stand by with her daughter in her arms, her heart aching at the sight._

_“Child, we need to sedate you. You’re in tremendous pain from the bodily injuries and this will make you feel numb to the pain.”_

_“I DON’T WANT IT!” Jongdae emphasized loudly. “Owww!! HYUNG, WHERE ARE YOU?!”_

_Giving in to his brother so easily, Yifan went back to his brother’s side. When he cupped the back of Jongdae’s head with his hand, he lowered himself to kiss his brother’s forehead. He felt Jongdae relaxing a little, and his cries had settled down._

_“Hyung, p-please. I…I…I ca-…I can’t even see where I am at all, I don’t even know whose hands they are. I only know your hands.” His head leaning to Yifan’s touch, Jongdae sobbed and moaned as he struggled against the holds. “Don’t leave me…”_

_“We need to sedate you, because you’re feeling so much pain, child. Please work with us here.”_

_“I’m scared…”_

_The nurses could not deny that they, too, were affected by Jongdae’s cries. With a pang of sympathy, the nurses let him have one more chance to feel his brother._

_Feeling one restraint loosening, Jongdae took his chance to quickly grab Yifan’s shirt, pulling Yifan closer to him. Yifan sighed sympathetically as he put one hand on the stretcher to keep him from falling onto his brother, looking at the nurses a little forlorn. Jongdae continued to weep against Yifan’s chest, his head shaking stubbornly._

_“P-please, tell them that you’ll c-come with me. I-I don’t care what you have to do; I just don’t want you away from me.”_

_Yifan shook his head gently, once more kissing the top of Jongdae’s head. He inhaled the rainy scent in his brother’s hair and crooned to him._

_“It’ll be okay,  Chen-chen, you’re in the hospital. You’re in good hands; trust me. The doctors and nurses will be gentle with you; they know that you’re very fragile at the moment, and they want to bring you back to good health.” Yifan made to pull away, but Jongdae still had his hold on his shirt and continued to shake his head, the feeble whimpers croaking out of his throat._

_“Chen-chen, it’ll be okay. Stop crying now. Shh, it’ll be okay.” Yifan kept reassuring Jongdae, caressing his brother’s head. “I will be here waiting no matter what, Umma will be waiting and Sunyoung-ah too. We will be here. Appa and Minseok-hyung will be here soon, okay?” He heard soft sniffling from his brother, and he tried to gather up whatever strength he has to tell Jongdae to let go. He looked up and signaled to the nurses to go ahead and sedate him. The nurses quickly made their moves to give him a sedative drug. Yifan felt his brother’s hands slowly weakening their grip._

_“You have to be strong, Chen-chen. You have to be strong. You’ll get out of this soon. Be strong, Chen-chen, you hear me? Be strong; promise me you’ll be a good boy and let the doctors and nurses help you, okay? They can help you be healthier and stronger than now. Yo…You’ll…” Yifan’s voice hitched as he holds onto a hope of what may seem impossible with the condition his little brother was in. He closed his eyes and buried his face in Jongdae’s hair. Warm tears fell from his eyes to Jongdae’s head._

_“You’ll be able to see us all soon.”_

_Jongdae was quiet. Yifan felt Jongdae’s hands slipping from his shirt, and he opened his eyes to watch them lay limply on either side of Jongdae, who appeared to be unmoving. For a brief moment Yifan panicked, his mind racing, as he lifted his head from Jongdae’s hair._

No...

_Not a reaction from his brother to give him a sign of consciousness._

_Yifan tried to keep calm, but the combination between his blurred vision and his mind suggesting teasingly that Jongdae had just did something unmistakable in front of his eyes, that Jongdae was no longer here…_

_Tears fell even faster from his eyes as Yifan drew a shuddering breath._

_“I’m sorry, but he’s sedated now…Sir, we have to take him to the ER immediately,” One of the nurses said as she placed a hand on Yifan’s shoulder._

_Yifan let out a breathy sigh, relieved that his brother did not pass on and was just sedated. At a loss for words, he planted another brief kiss on Jongdae’s forehead before the nurses wheeled Jongdae to the ER._

_“I’ll be here, waiting, no matter how long it will take.”_

\- - - -

7:30PM

“Whoo-hoo! Yixing-hyung! You did it!!! We did it!! WE ALL GOT THROUGH!!”

Jongin exclaims when he sees the list displaying the names of the people who will be moving onto the national dance competition. Those who have not moved on will be resuming their usual dance classes on campus. They meet up with some of their classmates who have competed against them, and either congratulate or console their friends.

Yixing smiles, and hugs Luhan and the younger trio. They had been waiting, along with the crowd of dancers, in anticipation for the panel judges to post their results. One of the judges had come out of the auditorium doors, making his way to the wall near the entrance of the performing arts center, and had posted the results before he found himself in the way of stampeding dancers; he got away just barely.

7:40PM

“Jonguppie-hyung!” Jongup turns around to hear Junhong yelling, as the mentioned tall boy hurrying down the stairs from the second floor. Among the sea of people coming downstairs, Jongup spots his brother, Daehyun, Kyungsoo, JR, Zitao and Yongguk following behind Junhong. Jongup notices Yongguk reaching out for his phone in his jacket and frowning before answering the call, but Junhong has reached Jongup and is standing in front of him.

“DID YOU GET IN??” Jongup shifts his attention to his ecstatic tall, young friend.

“Hm? Ah yeah, we all did!”

“Wow!! Congratulations!! You guys were _daebak_!” Junhong cheers.

Murmurs of thanks are heard from the group, and then Jongin pulls Kyungsoo aside.

“Did you like our performance?”

“Yeah! You were really smooth and sharp with your moves. I can’t imagine how many hours it must have taken practicing these moves. By the way, you know, since you’re already my boyfriend at this point, you should also start acting like a gentleman.” Kyungsoo smirks as he makes a reference to Jongin and Sehun’s dance performance with the Justin Bieber song. Jongin rolls his eyes and smiles.

“But you have Jooniemyeon-hyung for that. I’m not the husband in the family.”

“Yah, you want me to tell hyung you said that?”

Jongin shuts up and pulls Kyungsoo closer, planting kisses on his neck, whispering apologies for his snarky attitude. Kyungsoo smiles lightheartedly and lightly punches him.

Daehyun and Jongup pull away from a hug, with beaming faces and broad smiles.

[^(WHAT THINK?)^ I IMPROVE BETTER LAST TIME.] Jongup smiles at his boyfriend, who is looking back at him with admiration in his face and a twinkling in his eyes, before scrunching his face. _(Daehyun-hyung, what did you think? I’ve changed up a bit from last time.)_

“…awggh.” [I THINK AWFUL] _(I thought it was awful.)_ Daehyun smiles even though he is scrunching his nose up. Jongup is stunned, before he pouts.

[HYUNG, **SERIOUS** .] _(Hyung, be serious…)_

“Ahm k’iddin!” [I JOKE! CALM-DOWN! ONLY JOKE! I THINK JAW-DROP, WOW COOL! “GOOSEBUMPS-ON-SKIN”! **DIFFERENT** COMPARE BEFORE!] Daehyun’s eyes are gleaming with mischievousness and adoration for his boyfriend. _(I’m kidding! Chill out! Just a joke! I thought it was incredible; I even had goosebumps! It was much different than before!)_

Yixing watches contentedly as Jongup signs with Daehyun, before JR, Junhong, and Himchan join them, with Himchan hugging Jongup from behind; he then moves on to look at Kyungsoo and Jongin conversing in private; and lastly, with a smile, he turns his gaze to Luhan and Sehun, who are having their own conversation away from the group. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he turns around and faces Zitao holding a card.

“Zitao, what’s this for?” Yixing accepts the card, looking at Zitao before opening it and finding small passage of Chinese characters.

“ _Xing-ge, congratulations on your dance audition! I hope you do really well to get into the national dance competition next term! You have our support!”_

Yixing smiles and thanks Zitao for his touching message. He informs Zitao that he and the others have gotten in, and they will be practicing for the national dance competition. Zitao’s eyes light up and he hugs Yixing, expressing his awe and joy upon hearing the news.

“Okay, thanks, Joonmyeon-ah. I’ll…I’ll let him know.” Yongguk is looking at Yixing with a sad expression, before Yixing makes eye contact with him. Yongguk immediately turns around, shifting his gaze to the ground. Yixing does not register the tears in Yongguk’s eyes, because he is still feeling happy about his success, and so he chats with Zitao about how he felt during the audition.

Yongguk blinks back tears, bringing his fist in front of his mouth to clear his throat. “No, I won’t tell the others yet, except maybe Luhan a-and Zitao. Himchan will be taking the others home.” He glances at Himchan and, to his surprise, Himchan is staring back at him. Himchan has his eyebrow raised in question, but Yongguk shakes his head, holding up a finger as a signal to wait a moment.

“Okay, I will. See you guys soon.”

When Yongguk nods before hanging up, he takes in a deep breath as he looks down to the ground. He rolls his eyes as he blinks away the tears in his eyes and lets out a sigh. When he looks to Himchan, he mouths at him to take the others home, except for Luhan, Zitao and Yixing. Himchan nods without questioning him.

Yongguk then looks over at Yixing, who is reading the card from Zitao again. Yongguk feels his heart breaking at the sight of a dimpled Yixing, and how in a few minutes later, after he breaks the news, the smile will not be around for long. The others remain oblivious, too lost in their excitement over the good news.


	28. A Tearful Gathering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A heartbreaking sight for the brothers. An emotional drop for the boyfriend. A tearful gathering of the siblings and several friends. And some solemn news.
> 
> In other words, you'll find out why Yifan took it so hard (and how he deals after seeing his brother), and how Yixing deals with the news post-performance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I strongly advise you to prepare your box of tissues. I've cried typing and rereading this several times; my beta cried; I guarantee you, tears will be shed.
> 
> There are swearing, extreme forms of despair, angst.

8PM

“MAKE WAY FOR THE PATIENT, HE’S IN CRITICAL CONDITION!!”

Heads are turning to one end of the hallway as they hear hurried footsteps and shuffling as the doctors and nurses are quickly transporting the stretcher to the doors that lead to the operation rooms. Doojoon and Jinki have arrived together, watching the doctors rushing past them.

Minseok quickly grabs the chance to look at the patient and his eyes bulge at the sight of the familiar clothes. He stands back against the corridor wall, looking towards Yifan with despair.

Catching his brother’s glance, Yifan stands up quickly and runs over to the stretcher to look at the patient, the others following suit. What Yifan sees makes him feel like he is being punched in the gut, heart, and mind.

“Oh god…” 

Lying on the moving stretcher, Jongdae seems to be sleeping peacefully; yet his appearance is bloodied and ragged from the accident. He has a neck brace around his body, aside from the oxygen mask on his face. Yifan heaves a sob as he reaches for Jongdae’s hand, walking in time with the doctors and the stretcher. He hastily bombards his brother with questions in between snivels, “Ch-Chen? Ar-are you awake? _P-please_ , can you hear me? Che- _I’M HIS BROTHER, DAMMIT. DON’T YOU FUCKING TOUCH ME!!”_ Yifan roars at one of the doctors who continues to haughtily push him aside, as he hurries to keep in time with them.

“ _CHEN-CHEN, IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, DON’T YOU DIE ON ME. DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE. I’VE LIVED THROUGH THE BIGGEST REGRET OF MY LIFE BECAUSE OF YOU, AND I DON’T WANNA LIVE THROUGH ANOTHER ONE, DAMMIT!!”_ Yifan is in hysterics as he holds onto Jongdae’s hand, stroking it with his thumb and then bringing it to his cheek. 

“CHEN-CHEN, DAMMIT, WAKE UP, PLEASE. Please, I-I’m be-begging you, don’t you dare leave me ag-again. I c-can’t  _ bear  _ to live without you. I love you too much, Chen-chen. I don’t want to let you go.” Yifan looks down to his brother, still not responding to the touch or the shouts. Yifan moans pitifully as he continues to walk with the stretcher and the doctors, waiting to see for any reaction from his brother.

“Sir, you have to leave. We are about to enter a restricted section, and you are not allowed. I am deeply sorry about your brother, but we must quickly bring his condition to normal, if you will allow yourself to be moved out of the way, please.” One of the nurses across from Yifan has a gentle voice. Yifan looks up and he immediately recognizes him from ChaKeo Corner, one of the 7 guys whom Zitao hung around with.

“ _Please. I beg of you,_ _please_ take care of my Jongdae.” Sniffling, Yifan cannot help but stress that request.

“We will do our best.”

Yifan feels a strong grip on his arm and he looks back to see a blurry Doojoon holding him back. Slowing to a stop, Yifan continues to sob as he reluctantly lets go of Jongdae’s hand; he sees it fall limply to the side before one of the doctors brings it back on the stretcher. The doctors and nurses finally push the stretcher through the doors with Jongdae on it, and then all that is left in front of the shocked crowd are the doors swinging in and out irregularly. Yifan stares with heaving gasps after his brother through the windows of the swinging doors.

“I…I…” Yifan is at loss for words as the image of bloodied Jongdae appears in his mind. “Jongdae… _ Jongdae… AHHHHHH! _ ” Yifan lets out a heart-wrenching wail into the hallway as he collapses to his knees, his back hunched over and his head hanging in despair.

“J-Jongdae, you idiot! Why d-did you have to go b-by  _ yourself  _ without  _ me _ in the  _ rain _ ?! You should’ve let me gone with you!!” Yifan continues to sob, his hands brought up to his eyes, kneeling in front of the swinging doors as the others are watching him from a distance with teary eyes and solemn looks.

\- - -

8PM

“Yixing-ah…come here.”

Hearing his name being called, Yixing looks up from his card, smiling; Zitao turns to Yongguk as well. His smile drops slowly when he spots Yongguk’s sad look as Yongguk beckons him closer. Yixing pulls away from Zitao, looking at him for any answers, but Zitao can only shake his head and shrug. Himchan does nothing but watch them with a worried expression, as he continues to stand with Jongup in his arms.

Walking up to Yongguk and seeing the man’s eyes brimming with tears, Yixing cannot help but feel something daunting filling up his body. It starts to make his heart race and then makes his ears tune out the crowd, his mind in a daze.

“Let’s go outside, I need to tell you something.” Yongguk brings up an arm to rest on Yixing’s shoulders and steers him out. 

“O-okay, sure.” Yixing’s eyebrow twitches in confusion, and Yixing gulps nervously, half wanting to hear the news and half not wanting to hear it. 

Daehyun, Luhan, Zitao, Himchan and Kyungsoo are the first people to catch them, and make others known to follow the two men, some watching with confused looks. Time starts to flow weirdly for Yixing, and he starts to lose track of what is going on around him, but Yongguk’s presence grounds him and encourages him to keep walking.

Once the two of them reach the exit doors and have made their way outside, coming to a stop under the overhang, the group behind them stay indoors, some watching with uncertainty and some watching curiously. 

“I'm so,  _ so _ sorry, Yixing.” Yongguk looks at his friend with sad, wet eyes, before he pulls Yixing roughly into a hug.

Yixing is taken aback at the hug, still confused at what is going on.  _ Is it my sister? Is it my parents? _

Panic strikes Yixing in the face, and his face pales.  _ …Is it Jongdae? _

“Less than an hour ago, Jongdae was in a hit-and-run; he’s already taken to the ER and the-…they…I’m so sorry, Yixing,” Yongguk murmurs in Yixing’s ear as he holds Yixing in his arms, hearing him choke out a sob. He feels Yixing stumbling and struggling in his arms, as Yixing’s knees give in to his body weight.

“They say he’s in a fatal condition, and I don’t know how serious it is,” Yongguk murmurs in Yixing’s ear as the hushed whispers of “ _ no, no, no, no, this isn’t happening” _ turn into a louder whispers of “You’re lying, Yongguk. You’re lying, this isn’t happening. You’re  _ lying.” _

Yixing means to hit Yongguk, but the latter has his arms around Yixing’s body, trapping them to his sides. Yixing’s attempts at hitting Yongguk have failed, and his struggle with Yongguk slowly attracts attention from the rest of his friends indoors.

“Hyung, what’s wrong with Yixing-hyung?” Himchan feels Jongup’s head shifting near his cheek.

“I…I don’t know. But I have to take you guys home, except for Luhan and Zitao…I don’t think we’re going to Jongdae’s place tonight.” Himchan bites on his bottom lip in worry.

_ \- - - _

8:10PM

_ A chilly wind, due to the moisture of the cold rain, surrounds the arts center… _

Yongguk and Yixing are outside the center as the latter continues to sob, his voice mumbling “ _ Zhongda, Zhongda, why? Why, Zhongda?”  _ as Yongguk hugs him.

“I had spoken with Joonmyeon on the phone, Yifan’s not handling it well either, but Minseok’s calling their parents. Apparently, Dongwoon and Kikwang saw the accident and  _ thank god _ they were nearby, Yixing. Jongdae was unconscious after the impact, suffering from a major concussion. H-He…He almost d-di-”

“STOP IT. ZHONGDA, DON’T YOU  _ DARE _ LEAVE ME. WE MADE A  _ PROMISE _ .” Screaming to the rain, Yixing lets out a strangled wail as he shakes his head in anguish. He struggles in Yongguk’s embrace, half-wanting to get out, half-wanting the comfort. A few neighboring people look to the source of the cries, confused at the outburst. Some have been quietly watching with pity.

Trying to speak over Yixing’s whimpering sobs, Yongguk tries to soothe the young man in his arms. “Yixing, shh, it’s okay, it’ll be okay. The doctors managed to revive him back, and so far, he’s hanging on to survive. He’s a fighter, Yixing.” Yongguk feels a little guilty giving Yixing a little bit of false hope, though he hopes that it would be true. Yongguk glances around their surroundings and tries to smile at the people, assuring that everything is okay. “You just have to remember that, Jongdae’s a fighter. Jongdae’s in good hands, and he needs our help to fight for his life. Can you do that for me, Yixing? For your boyfriend?”

Yongguk continues to hold the hysterical Yixing in his arms. “I know how hard it is for you right now, and it’s hard for me too. It’s hard for me to see you like this, especially after an amazing performance you delivered tonight. The others don’t know yet, and I can’t tell them tonight, except Luhan and Zitao. But we  _ need _ to be strong for Jongdae.

“Listen,” he holds the sides of Yixing’s face and pulls him away from the hug to make Yixing look at him. He can hear Yixing sniffling as he observes Yixing’s condition; the bloodshot eyes, his lips trembling, and the tear streaks on Yixing’s cheeks. Yongguk feels his heart breaking at the sight, and he gulps before he informs Yixing the plan for tonight.

“I will take you, Zitao, and Luhan to the hospital. Jongdae’s sister is on her way. I don’t know about their parents but hopefully they will be on their way. Let’s go back inside when you’re done, we don’t want to attract the others’ attention.

“I’m so sorry you had to hear this tonight, Yixing-ah; I really am. Just know that we’re here for you; I’m here for you, Yixing-ah.” When the weeping Yixing can only respond with a nod, Yongguk brings Yixing to his chest once again, letting him cry some more.

\- - -

8:20PM

Yifan slowly stands up from the floor, and he gets slightly dizzy from the breakdown. Doojoon, Jinki and Joonmyeon react quickly to help him, but they cannot assist him in time, when Yifan stumbles to the wall shoulder-on. Yifan then turns, his back resting against the wall. A few moments pass in silence before there is a sudden  _ BAM _ .

Everyone is startled by the noise, looking at Yifan in shock, as he has just slammed his fist against the wall. Yifan is no longer crying, but he is still teary-eyed, biting on his bottom lip. He turns around so no one can see him breaking down, and he lets out a loud grunt when he slams his fist against the wall for the second time that night.

_ BAM! _

A mixture of shocked “Yifan-ah!”s and serious “Yah, stop it”s are heard from the group.

Not listening to the group, Yifan keeps punching the wall a few more times out of anguish when Joonmyeon intercedes. Joonmyeon grabs Yifan’s wrists and tries to pull him away from the wall. Yifan lets out a despairing moan of pain, struggling to break free, wanting to lurch himself at the wall. Joonmyeon then moves around to stand in front of Yifan, and wraps his arms around Yifan’s chest tightly, trapping Yifan’s arms in the process.

“Yifan, you need to  _ stop _ .” Joonmyeon orders, ignoring Yifan’s struggles and low grunts. “You’re already in enough pain because of your brother. Stop that, okay?  _ Stop hurting yourself more than you already are _ .” Yifan tries to shrug him off, but Joonmyeon remains unmoved, maintaining his footing and keeping Yifan still.

“Don’t put yourself in his shoes, just put yourself together. We’re in a hospital and Jong-”, Joonmyeon’s throat hitches from the memory of seeing his friend on a stretcher, “…Jongdae is in good hands.”

At that line, Yifan lets out a strangled noise, a mixture of a gasp and a sob. He gives up struggling his way out of Joonmyeon’s hold, yielding to bury his face on Joonmyeon’s hair and letting the tears fall. He then wraps his arms around Joonmyeon, his hands clutching at the back of Joonmyeon’s jacket.

“I want my Jongdae  _ back _ , J-Joonmyeon. I-I  _ need  _ him back. He can’t leave me, not again. I  _ won’t _ allow it. I  _ can’t  _ live without him, Joonmyeon. I just  _ can’t _ .” Yifan mumbles loudly in Joonmyeon’s hair, as Joonmyeon starts to sway with Yifan, hoping it will soothe him down more. Tears fall from Joonmyeon’s eyes when he hears Yifan’s wretched pleas.

Except for Minseok, the others watch the guys with pity and awe, at both Yifan’s capacity to have such compassion for his brother to the point where he vowed out loud twice that he could not bear to live a life without Jongdae, and at Joonmyeon’s ability to stand his ground and comfort him, like a father. Minseok can only watch with tearful eyes and a struggling resolve to get himself together.

_ Tick…tock…tick…tock… _

The tick-tock of the clock joins the weeping as Yifan and the others wait in the hallway. Wrapped in a tight embrace in Joonmyeon’s arms, Yifan is crying on Joonmyeon’s head, chanting his brother’s name.

\- - -

8:30PM

“Jinki-yah! Doojoon-ah!” Everyone except for Yifan turn to the shout.

Qian is hurriedly walking down the corridor with Sunyoung, soothing her as Sunyoung tries to hold back her tears.

Bursting into tears, Sunyoung runs to Yifan, as Joonmyeon lets go of Yifan, stepping aside to let her hug her brother. Yifan tries to regain his composure but he falls apart in his sister’s arms. She knows how close Yifan is with Jongdae; everyone who knows Jongdae are usually close with him, but Yifan and Jongdae have a special connection, a bond that runs deep, and she knows the reason why. She leads him to sit on the floor, their backs against the wall, and hugs her brother’s side. Yifan wraps one arm around her shoulders and continues to weep on her hair, half-hugging her. Deep inside, Yifan is thankful for his sister to be there for him.

The others fill Qian in on what she and Sunyoung have missed, on the general overlook of what Jongdae is going through at the moment, and they decide not to tell Sunyoung the details yet. Qian looks to Yifan and Sunyoung with sad eyes, her heart broken at the sight. She knows what it is like to see a loved one look so broken and in such a terrible condition, but she was lucky to have Zitao be walking and moving in her memory, barely escaping physical violence; Jongdae was not in any way like Zitao.

8:50PM

_ Tick…tock…  _ Seconds feel like minutes…

_ Tick…tock…  _ Minutes feel like hours…

Yifan’s memory comes back again like a creeping wraith…

_ \- - - - _

_ Minutes felt like hours, and hours felt like days passed. _

_ Yifan was sitting at the waiting room, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill. Their mother sat next to him, holding his hand. Sunyoung was sitting next to their mother, watching with curious eyes at her second eldest brother. “Oppa…will Jonggie-oppa be okay?” Sunyoung asked her brother. After getting no response, she looked to their mother with wide eyes, “Umma?” Their mother could stare at her youngest and only daughter with sad eyes, “I don’t know…all we can do is hope and pray, Sunyoung-ah.” _

_ Just then, the father and Minseok had arrived to the hospital, and they were looking frantic, walking up to their family members. After some vague explanation from the mother, the men felt a bit relieved but would not dare to keep their hopes up. They had to brace themselves for any news, whether good or bad. Just then, a buzzer sounded, signaling that the doctors were coming out of the emergency room with news. _

_ The doctors walked up to the family, with mixed emotions. They all looked sad, but there was a trace of relief on each face. Yifan did not know what to feel, confused by the display of mixed emotions. The good news was that Jongdae was alive and awake, but his breathing was labored because there were two broken ribs on his left side, according to an X-ray scan; some bruises on his chest and bumps on his head from the impacts with the branches; and some minor scratches and cuts on his legs and arms. The family could see him one at a time tonight if they wished to. The most solemn news was that even though Jongdae managed to miraculously survive the fall, his eyesight was deteriorating quickly. One of his eyes was permanently damaged and the other had some internal bleeding, and it was possible that he may lose all eyesight within the next few hours; there was nothing that the doctors could do to give him back his sight. _

_ The family had been relieved at first with the good news, but were devastated when they heard the bad news. The mother started weeping and her husband gathered her in his arms to console her. It was too young of an age to lose one’s sight. _

_ Yifan stood there in shock, all air gushed out of him as if he was punched in the stomach. He could not feel Minseok’s hand resting on his shoulder, gripping slightly. His mind in a numb state, Yifan was led to his brother’s room by one of the nurses, consoling him with a pat on his arm. He blinked when they reached the door; he had no idea how he got there. Yifan looked through the small window in the door and saw Jongdae lying on the patient bed. Jongdae, his brother with a heavy bandage wrapped around his head, covering his eyes. His Jongdae. _

\- - - -

“Where’s Zhongda? Is he alright??”

The voice of Yixing snaps Yifan out of his thoughts and gathers everyone’s attention to the hallway as they see Yixing running and stumbling, shouting for Jongdae’s condition. Yongguk, Zitao, and Luhan are trailing behind.

Minseok goes to Yixing, holding him close, whispering to him that Jongdae has been taken to the ER and he looks pretty bad. Yixing falls apart, sinking to his knees, and Minseok tries to hold onto Yixing by the arm. Kikwang is watching him, his eyes tired due to his earlier crying, and feels another round of tears when he hears Yixing’s pitiful sobs. He looks away, and feels Dongwoon cradling his head with his arm, as he clasps one of his hands with Dongwoon’s free hand.

Yongguk goes to Joonmyeon and explains the situation. “Himchan has already taken most of the guys back home. Daehyun and Kyungsoo are heading to Kyungsoo’s place. They all don’t know yet what happened, they only saw Yixing breaking down. I told them that they all needed to get some rest; it had been a long day for most of them; no point for them to deal with this ordeal after their dance auditions tonight. They do not need to know this yet.

“Luhan and Zitao know, I told them on the way here. They took it okay; Zitao was a little more emotional than Luhan, though not as bad as Yixing, since he and Jongdae are good friends. Luhan was comforting his brother on the way here; Yixing had been a little hysterical, but it’s understandable. Ah, excuse me.” There is a sudden noise of a ringtone from Yongguk’s cell phone in the pocket of his jacket; Yongguk checks it and finds a text message.

“Oh, that was Daehyun. He just texted me that Bora and Hyojung are at Kyungsoo’s sisters’ apartment next door, and they’re waiting for updates.” Joonmyeon nods.

“Okay; I’ve not yet told Chanyeol and Baekhyun because they’re already at their date and I don’t want to ruin their night just yet, but as soon as we hear from the doctors about Jongdae’s condition, I’ll let them know,” Joonmyeon says sadly.

Zitao watches Yifan from a distance, unsure whether he can go up to him or not. He remembers that Yifan had been avoiding him, and ever since he arrived at the hospital, Yifan has not laid one glance at him. Luhan comes up to Zitao and links his arm with him, pulling him to sit next to Yixing who is still seated on the floor, sniffling.

“Yixing took it pretty hard, but man, Yifan’s taking it even worse than he did,” Yongguk observes as he stands next to Doojoon, Jinki, Joonmyeon, and Qian. He notices the bruised knuckles. “What happened to his hands?”

“He hit the wall over there,” Jinki points to where they had last seen him in distress. Yongguk’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Joonmyeon had to intervene.”

“Yeah, you should’ve seen him earlier, it was just heart-breaking.” Doojoon mutters. “We all saw Jongdae on the stretcher with a group of doctors and nurses, and Yifan just went up and walked with them, sobbing his heart out. Jongdae looked pretty bad, blood and bruises, and even his body…there were braces…” he gulps, feeling emotions stuck in his throat. “It’s amazing that he survived an impact from the side of a car and then the road. I had to restrain Yifan from going further past those doors” – Doojoon points to the doors with his thumb – “and he just lost it there, down on his knees on the floor.”

Yongguk shakes his head sadly at the news. “Jongdae’s quite the person that everyone, myself including, cannot help but be close with. It seems that there are a few people that broke the boundaries between them and Jongdae, being so emotionally close, and sometimes physically close, like Yixing and Yifan. Hearing that something like this happened to Jongdae, these two showed a lot more raw emotions than any of us would show.” The others nod in agreement, as they watch the said people with sympathetic eyes.

“Minseok-sshi,” Dongwoon asks, capturing the eldest brother’s attention and almost everyone else’s, “what happened to Jongdae that made Yifan say that? Something like ‘ _ Because of you, I’ve lived through one biggest regret of my life, and I don’t want to live through another one now _ ?’ What did Jongdae do that Yifan regretted doing before?” 

“Ah…the regret Yifan-oppa had…” Sunyoung replies, “was when Jongdae-oppa lost his sight.” As she says this, everyone except her brothers perk up their ears at the interesting comment. They all had been told directly from Jongdae in their times of meeting him that he became blind from an accident, but he never went further into details other than “I had hit my head very bad in the woods”; the memory of his blindness was a sensitive subject for Jongdae. Yifan stares blankly into space, his eyes red and puffy from the tears.

“It was back in our hometown near the seaport village when I was with umma in the living room, and Yifan-oppa was watching Jonggie-oppa climb the tree in our backyard pasture. Minseok-oppa and Appa had been out fishing. The sky had started to look as if it was to rain, and we heard Yifan tell Jongdae to be careful. Umma got worried and told Yifan to tell Jongdae to get back down, but Yifan assured her that it would be fine, he had his eyes on him anyway.”

Yifan’s light sobs interrupts Sunyoung’s speech, and the crowd looks to Yifan. “I shouldn’t have said that,” Yifan mumbles to himself as he wipes the tears from his eyes. “It didn’t seem like it was a big deal and I thought it was gonna be a cloudy day.” Sunyoung wraps her arms around Yifan’s clothed bicep, feeling sympathetic.

“But the lightning and thunder came, the  _ rain _ , and in a few seconds, there was this loud  _ crack _ ,  _ snap _ , and then it was all so surreal. Just like that, the branches started to collapse, and there was no sign of Jongdae. I ran to the tree,  _ screaming _ , looking for him, and then I finally found him. What I saw, it broke my heart. He was just a little kid back then, and to be holding on a branch, with all…these…bruises and blood” – Yifan gives a gasp, feeling like these three words are causing him pain to even say it, as the recent memory plays in his mind – “…I had to be strong. I told him to let go and fall because I would be right there to catch him.” Yifan gulps, staring at the floor.

Sunyoung looks at her brother with pity, before looking back at the small crowd, shock evident on their faces. She sees Yixing seated on the floor as well, his back against the wall, looking at her with sad, puffy eyes. She picks up from where Yifan left off.

“When they came in, we saw blood from Jongdae’s eyes. I thought it was strange, but later, I found out bleeding in or from the eyes could lead to blindness. We rode with Jonggie-oppa to the hospital; Minseok-oppa and appa had not yet returned from fishing. It wasn’t until later that they showed up at the hospital, as we were waiting for the doctors to tell us about Jongdae-oppa’s condition. Umma had called the fishing wharf with the landline phone at home before the ambulance came by.”

Minseok nods gently, and speaks up. “Yeah, we didn’t get the message until later that afternoon, when the fishing boat station contacted us through the walkie-talkies that there was a serious emergency and that one of our family members was in the hospital. We immediately headed back to shore and quickly drove to the hospital. When we got there, we saw Umma, Yifan, and Sunyoung, and I was honestly scared. Scared that I might have lost our brother then.

“But we waited and waited, until finally, the doctors came out. They told us that Jongdae was so lucky to survive a fall like that...but there had been some damages, both temporary and permanent, that Jongdae had to bear with for the rest of his life. The permanent damage was in his eyes, and that’s how he became blind; and Yifan felt terrible about it.” He looks to his brother with a sad half-smile.

Sunyoung continues. “Since that day, Yifan-oppa vowed to never leave Jonggie-oppa’s side, because he felt it was enough punishment for him to know that Jongdae lost his sight under his watch…but on a light note, he also felt it was his responsibility to take care of his brother, and it was a way for him to be closer to Jongdae, to be the  _ over-protective  _ brother.” Sunyoung nudges her brother gently with a smile.

\- - -

9:20PM

Time passes slowly for the group, anxiously waiting to hear for the buzzer sound from the ER. It has been over an hour since Yifan and the others, except for the recent arrivals, had last seen Jongdae. Twice, Yifan sneaks a glance at the crowd and to his own surprise, he finds himself staring at Zitao. When Zitao returns the eye contact both times, Yifan glances away.

While everyone is waiting in silence, no one makes a move, nor does anyone whisper. They either are lost in their thoughts or watching each other with sad looks, the shock of Jongdae’s accident still having a profound effect on them.

_ \- - - - _

_ Yifan swallowed the lump in his throat and entered the room, trying not to make any sudden noise that might startle his brother. Once he got his voice back, he braced himself to walk up to the chair without breaking down, with Jongdae resting in his sight. He heard a faint beeping sound but could not make out what it was, until he reached the chair and sat down. He looked to his right and saw that it was coming from the vital signs monitor hanging on the pole next to the bed. He also noticed an IV drip on the other side as well. He called to Jongdae softly by the nickname. _

_ “ Chen-chen?” Jongdae’s ears perked up at the sound of his nickname and the familiar voice of his hyung. _

_ “Yi...Yifan-ge, is that y-you?” Jongdae’s voice was strained but the need for his older brother was there, accompanied with his hand quickly reaching out front to wherever he thought his brother was standing. Yifan heard beeping increasing from the machine, and noticed that Jongdae’s heart rate was increasing. At this, Yifan dropped his defenses and clasped his hand with Jongdae’s, and he could tell Jongdae visibly relaxed at the touch, the beeping sound slowing down to its normal rate. He brought Jongdae’s hand to his lips, kissing it, and to his cheek as he stared at Jongdae. _

_ “I…I’m s-so…so…s-s-sorry, Chen-chen. I should’ve known better…” Yifan felt the tears falling, landing on the back of Jongdae’s hand. “It’s all my fault, Jongdae-yah…It’s all gege’s fault.” _

_ Yifan closed his eyes, not wanting to see Jongdae in this condition, and he heard Jongdae weeping. “I can’t see anymore, gege. I c-can’t. I can’t even see y-you. I miss seeing your face, gege. I m-miss seeing umma and appa, our fami-“ Jongdae’s voice cracked on the last word before it collapsed to a sob, his shoulders shaking. Yifan wept as he brought himself closer to kiss Jongdae’s forehead, his free hand caressing the top of Jongdae’s head. “It will be okay, Jongdae-yah…It’s okay. I will be your eyes, I will watch out for you.” _

_ \- - - - _

“Someone’s coming…or two,” Qian speaks up, startling everyone and snapping Yifan out of his flashback. They all hold their breaths as they see a doctor and a nurse come out through the doors. The unfamiliar, tall doctor has a long face yet it was quite charming to look at, and very charismatic. However, as for the shorter nurse, Yifan recognizes him from that night at ChaKeo Corner and from the earlier run in the hallway.

“Hello, I’m sorry to keep you all waiting. Are you all close to Lee Jongdae-sshi?” The long-faced doctor asks the crowd. They nod.

“We’re his family,” Minseok, Yifan and Sunyoung raise their hands as they speak at the same time.

“Actually, hyung, I’ve met most of them at Kim Jinki-hyungnim’s café,” the shorter male explains to the taller doctor as he extends his hand to indicate Jinki. “My hyungs often perform there. My name is Lee Howon,” he introduces himself with a slight bow.

“And my name is Park Jungmin,” the taller doctor greets with a bow as well.

“H-how’s Zhongda, Doctor Park?” Yixing asks, a soft voice yet audible enough to be heard, his knees drawn up to his chest as he hugs them.

“...Jongdae-sshi is still in critical condition,” Doctor Park says sadly, and everyone grimace. Yifan leans his head back against the wall, closing his eyes as he wills the tears to stop. Yixing lowers his head to his knees. “There was some external bleeding on his head, but there could be possible internal bleeding in his body. Luckily his clothes spared his body from external injures, but I cannot say if it’s the same for the internal injuries. When we saw his x-ray pictures, we noticed that some of his ribs seemed to have previously been broken and healed. With the human body, suffering another violent impact increases the chances for his bones breaking again. Can you tell us what happened with that?”

“…Jongdae fell from a tree that was struck by lightning. He was ten years old when it happened, and he…survived,” Minseok explains. “But with a couple of broken ribs and bruises, and minor cuts.”

“Ah…well, Jongdae-sshi has two rib bones that nearly punctured his lung. He passed out due to shortness of breath, because his ribs are limiting his lungs’ capacity to expand. When you guys saw him earlier tonight in here, not only did he pass out, but also his heart was going under cardiac arrest. We had to transfer him to one of the rooms back there to defib hi-”

“JUST GET HIM BACK ALIVE, DAMN IT.” Yifan grimaces as he feels the heaving sobs in his throat about to come.

Everyone and the two hospital staff members recoil at the loudness of Yifan’s voice, and Yifan breaks down once again, “ _ G-God, please _ . G-give him one more chance to live,  _ please. Pleasepleaseplease _ .” Yifan huddles to a ball, whimpering and rocking himself. Sunyoung’s tears are splashing on the floor as she continues to console her brother.

Howon says gently, “There’s one thing we need to do. And it has to be with the parents’, guardian’s or eldest sibling’s consent…”

All eyes are looking between Minseok and the younger nurse, nervous to hear what will come next because of the word ‘eldest’.

“W-we…almost lost him again” – and Yifan could let out a strangled gasp – “but we managed to revive him.

“The thing is…we need to do a CAT scan on him to check if he has a concussion and or other internal bleeding. If we do see signs of them…” Howon looks to Yifan sadly, “We need to operate on him.”

“O-operate on him how, Nurse?” Minseok asks.

“Drill a small hole through Jongdae’s head to drain the excessive bleeding… and also surgery…Goodness…” Dongwoon murmurs softly, and Yifan is quick to pick that up.

“WAIT WHAT?!” He immediately stands up, facing Dongwoon with an angry look on his face. “ARE YOU LYING TO ME?” Dongwoon looks shocked and manages to shake his head, about to explain that he was studying medicine but he had to take a break, but Yifan has already whirled around to look at Howon and Doctor Park, looking upset.

“YOU MEAN TO TELL ME YOU’RE GONNA DRILL A FREAKING  _ HOLE _ ON MY BROTHER’S HEAD AND LET HIM DIE?!”

A little miffed at Yifan’s outburst, Howon keeps his cool and explains to him calmly, “Your brother will not die from a small hole drilled into his head. It is only to drain the excessive bleeding if we do see such signs of extradural hemorrhage in the CAT scan. But in order for that to happen, I need to have your consent to allow us to have a CAT scan.”

“The hell I would! I don’t want my brother to be drilled like some lumber in the woodshop!”

Doctor Park intervenes and explains to Yifan, “This is not some lumberyard, Yifan-sshi, and I do understand how you’re feeling. But this is a hospital, and we’re careful with our patients in operation rooms. But again, it won’t happen if we don’t have your consent. I do strongly suggest that we have your consent to perform a CAT scan on him so we can see if there are internal damages inside his body.”

Yifan scoffs harshly with tears running down his cheeks. Dongwoon goes to him and places a hand on his shoulder.

“Yifan, it’ll be okay. It’s a controlled method, and the doctors know what they are doing. A CAT scan is like an X-ray but more detailed. It’s not the drilling operation part. That’s another method used only for draining excessive internal bleeding, if the CAT scan shows any signs of it. Your brother will not be able to feel the pain anyway. It won’t hurt him, not one bit. What may hurt him is the possible excessive bleeding that his brain might have.”

Yifan looks at him and at Minseok, who is lost in his thoughts as he stares at the floor. After a brief moment, Minseok lifts his eyes up to meet with Howon’s.

“Y-You have my consent; I…I’m his oldest brother.” There is a slight tear falling from one of his eyes, before Minseok wipes it off hastily. He lets out a shaky breath. “Do what you need to do to get him back, please.”

Sunyoung lifts her hands to cover her face, and her shoulders start to shake, as whimpers and restraining sobs emit from her throat. Qian immediately goes to her, sitting down and wrapping her arms around her. Yifan peers over to his sister and he feels a pang of sadness in his chest. He feels a gentle squeeze on his shoulder from Dongwoon before the hand goes away.

“I’m not supposed to say this,” – Yifan darts his watery eyes to Howon as the nurse directs his vow to him – “but I will promise you, sir, that Doctor Park and I will do our best to make sure your brother lives, so that you won’t have to live through another regret...”

Yifan stares at the young nurse, his teary eyes expressing a mixture of overwhelmed gratitude and sadness. He cannot bring himself to speak, and so he nods and mouths a  _ Thank you _ . Howon smiles softly, and announces to the crowd that they will be back as soon as they see that Jongdae is in stable condition. Jungmin gives a sad smile to the crowd, and the two doctors bow before heading back into the swinging doors.

Yifan watches the doors slow down to a standstill, and the mental images of his brother haunt his mind. Closing his eyes to shut off the memory, he bows his head as drops to his knees, lifting his hands to his closed eyes, the words spilling out of his mouth in wretched pleas. “J- _ Jongdae _ …p-please. Come back… _ Come back… _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you believe THE TEAR-JERKING, HEART-WRENCHING, EMOTIONAL MESS OF A ROLLERCOASTER HAS JUST STARTED???


End file.
